According to a media report, Russian hackers attacked the German power grid with an espionage campaign. A suspected perpetrator has been identified, the Bayerischer Rundfunk and Westdeutscher Rundfunk reported on Thursday. An arrest warrant has been issued for the man. In summer 2017 he is said to have hacked the network of the company Netcom BW, which belongs to the energy company EnBW.
This made it possible to access the Internet traffic. The electricity and gas network control was not affected, the report quoted EnBW. According to the US Department of Justice, the man is said to be part of a hacker group working for the Russian secret service FSB. These are also targeting other energy companies.
How many corporate networks the group penetrated is unclear. The authorities succeeded in monitoring the hackers’ Internet traffic, at least in part, because one of the servers used is in Germany.
The hackers are also said to have hacked and slightly modified strategically important websites in order to access confidential information such as login data. Among other things, a company that develops websites for energy suppliers is affected.