By Kevin Coleman -- Defense Tech Cyberwarfare Correspondent
Recently German police discovered their systems had been successfully attacked by hackers. Their preliminary investigation indicated that the hackers had broken into their systems and were actively inside federal police and customs service computer systems for months. At this time, indications are that the systems came under cyber attack back in September 2010. However, the successful attack was not discovered until just recently. Inside sources have stated that Trojans were used to compromise the systems and that sensitive data was read by outside operatives. One unnamed source has been quoted as saying that they are deeply concerned that secret files on hundreds of police investigations could have been compromised and may even be published on the internet.
This discovery came at a most interesting time. In mid-June, the German interior ministry inaugurated the National Cyber Defense Centre located in the city of Bonn. This center is working to coordinate different federal institutions fighting online crime. In the past couple weeks this center came under cyber attack by the group of hackers calling themselves “n0n4m3 cr3w” (No Name Crew). Sources claim that the hackers broke into the National Cyber Defense Center’s network and were able to steal sensitive information from their servers. Comments by the No Name Crew indicate they are fighting for freedom and are actively defending themselves against what they say is wrongful treatment from the German government.
Some people might say this is truly embarrassing. Just weeks after the National Cyber Defense Center’s opening it has already fallen victim to a cyber attack. I think it is more of a sign of the times!
