Germany intelligence agency warns of Russian APT28 cyber spying


FILE PHOTO: A hooded man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File Photo

BERLIN, April 7 (Reuters) - Germany’s domestic ⁠intelligence agency warned on Tuesday of ‌cyberattacks by the Russian state-linked hacker group APT28, saying it had compromised vulnerable TP-Link ​internet routers to spy ⁠on military, government ⁠and critical infrastructure targets.

The Federal Office ⁠for the ‌Protection of the Constitution (BfV) said the warning was ⁠issued with partners including Germany's foreign ​intelligence ‌agency, BND, and the U.S. FBI.

APT28, ⁠also known ​as "Fancy Bear", is attributed by Western governments to Russia’s military intelligence ⁠service, the GRU.

The group attacked ​several thousand routers globally, the BfV said, including around 30 vulnerable devices ⁠in Germany.

In some cases, compromise was confirmed, prompting operators to replace affected routers.

APT28 previously carried out cyberattacks ​on Germany’s parliament, the ⁠centre-left SPD political party and air ​traffic control authorities, ‌the BfV said.

(Reporting by ​Andreas Rinke; Writing by Maria Martinez; Editing by Jamie Freed)

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