Russian ambassador summoned to German Foreign Ministry over hacker attack on Bundestag
The Russian ambassador to Germany, Sergei Nechayev, was summoned to the German Foreign Ministry because of a hacking attack on the Bundestag, which was allegedly carried out by Russian special services.
German Foreign Minister Miguel Berger on behalf of the German government "strongly condemned" the cyber attack, reads the statement posted on the website of the Federal Foreign Office. Berger informed Nechayev that the EU will use a "regime of cyber sanctions" against those responsible for the attack on the Bundestag, including Russian citizen Dmitry Badin.
In early May, the German Prosecutor General's Office put Badin on a wanted list on suspicion of organizing a cyber-attack on the Bundestag in April 2015. The department found that as a result, the attackers downloaded at least 16GB of data, including letters from MPs. According to Spiegel, the hackers also gained access to Chancellor Angela Merkel's computer, and they received information about her personal and business life, as well as the political situation in Germany. The prosecutor's office considers Badin a member of the hacking group Fancy Bear, which is associated with the Russian Military Intelligence Directorate (GRU).
On May 13, Merkel said there was strong evidence of Russia's involvement in the cyber attack on the Bundestag. She said the incident was part of a "hybrid warfare strategy".