Germany expects Russia to start publishing compromising material on German MPs in the summer in order to destabilise elections in September. Its interior minister, Thomas de Maiziere, and spy chief, Hans-Georg Maassen, issued the warning in Berlin on Tuesday (4 July) after unveiling a yearly intelligence report. De Maiziere said the material “could be published in the coming weeks,” the Reuters news agency reported. Maassen said Russia’s intention was “to damage trust in and the functioning of our democracy so our government should have domestic political difficulties and not be as free to act in its foreign policy as it is today.”
A hacker group, called APT28, said by US intelligence to be a front for Russian spies, stole 16 gigabytes of data from over 5,600 computers in the German parliament in 2015.
It broke into the accounts of 16 MPs and some in chancellor Angela Merkel’s office.
Recalling Russia’s actions in the US and French elections, De Maiziere said he expected “a classic disinformation campaign with lies and half truths intended to shape opinions” that would be spread by online “bots”.
Full Article: Germany expects Russian leaking to start in ‘weeks’.