#Russian #Hackers Could Influence #German Election


Angela Merkel says Russia could try to influence Germany’s general elections in 2017 by launching cyber attacks or disinformation campaigns. This statement was made after the US accused Moscow of similar meddling in the US vote, which resulted in the victory of pro-Russian candidate.

Merkel claimed that Germany already had to deal with information out of Russia or with online attacks that are of Russian origin or with disinformation news. She described dealing with that as “a daily task”, so this problem could play a role during the future election campaign. Merkel’s comments were made in response to a question about whether her country could experience the type of online attacks that have affected the US race, largely targeting Hillary Clinton’s Democratic party.

The United States in October formally accused the Russian government of trying to influence the country’s election by hacking US political institutions. Of course, Russia has repeatedly dismissed these charges. Germany’s secret service earlier in 2016 accused the Russian Federation of a series of international cyber-spying and sabotage attacks. In one of them, for example, the German lower house of parliament was targeted in 2015.

Germany is going to go to the polls in September. Angela Merkel has yet to announce her candidacy but is expected by many experts to run for a 4th term.

No comments: