The European Union (EU) on Friday threatened Russia with sanctions over cyberattacks and espionage. The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, accused Russian organisations of spreading disinformation and attempting to hack European politicians and interfere in Germany’s federal election, which was held on September 26.
In a statement, Borrell said, “Some EU Member States have observed malicious cyber activities, collectively designated as Ghostwriter, and associated these with the Russian state. Such activities are unacceptable as they seek to threaten our integrity and security, democratic values and principles and the core functioning of our democracies.”
“These malicious cyber activities are targeting numerous members of Parliaments, government officials, politicians, and members of the press and civil society in the EU by accessing computer systems and personal accounts and stealing data. These activities are contrary to the norms of responsible state behaviour in cyberspace as endorsed by all UN Member States, and attempt to undermine our democratic institutions and processes, including by enabling disinformation and information manipulation,” the statement added.
Furthermore, in a tweet, Borell said, “The fight against cyber attacks is crucial for European security. With the EU Member States, we observed malicious cyber activities, collectively designated as Ghostwriter. They seek to threaten our integrity, security, democratic values and principles, and core the functioning of our democracies.”
The bloc and its member states have condemned the malicious cyber-attacks and urged the Russian Federation to adhere to responsible state behaviour in cyberspace. The Union committed to addressing this issue in the upcoming meetings. If consensus is reached among EU member states, sanctions could be imposed.
Borrell’s statement comes after the German Foreign Ministry accused the Russian military service GRU of conducting a phishing attack to influence its parliamentary election.
Germany claimed that a Russian hacking group behind a disinformation campaign known as ‘Ghostwriter’, tried to gain access to the email accounts of federal and regional Members of Parliament. German intelligence believes that the group targeted provincial and national members of the German parliament via fake emails to reveal compromising information. Earlier this year, the group was blamed for hacking the emails of Polish politicians. Apart from this, they have also targeted officials from Latvia and Lithuania.
Consequently, Germany opened an investigation “on suspicion of foreign intelligence activity.” Russia has not yet responded to these allegations.
EU Threatens Russia With Sanctions Over Cyberattacks and Espionage
European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell threatened Russia with sanctions after reports of meddling in German federal elections surfaced.
September 27, 2021
SOURCE: THE MOSCOW TIMES