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Researchers at Trend Micro said the hackers, called Pawn Storm,
appear to be trying to steal personal and corporate data from
the CDU and high-profile individuals using two free email
services. A year ago, the research group linked Pawn Storm to
hacking attacks on the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament.
In the latest attempts, the hackers apparently tried to
coordinate credential-phishing attacks, using computer services
based in Latvia and the Netherlands, to gain access to the
systems of the CDU and other high-profile users, Trend Micro
said in a blog post.
"Up until now no attacks have taken place," a source at the CDU
headquarters in Berlin said on Thursday. "We have nonetheless
made appropriate changes to our IT infrastructure. We can't say
anything on the reasons for this."
Pawn Storm has been active for more than a decade and is
considered one of the longest-lasting cyber espionage groups.
Several major computer research groups say it has targeted
opposition groups in Russia as well as NATO and governments in
adjacent Eastern European countries, Turkey and the United
States. The military, defense companies and media in those
countries have also been attacked, Trend Micro said.
"Pawn Storm clearly targets groups that could be perceived as a
risk to Russian politics and interests," Trend Micro said.
The cyber attack on the German parliament was first reported in
May 2015. German media have said replacing the computer system
could cost the government millions of euros.
The news magazine Der Spiegel also quoted an internal
investigation as saying there were indications that a Russian
intelligence agency had staged the attack.
In January 2015, German government websites, including Merkel's
website, were hacked in an attack claimed by a group demanding
that Berlin end support for the Ukrainian government.
(Additional reporting by Michael Nienaber and Thorsten Severin;
Editing by Larry King)
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