Sputnik: Who's the person who made German high-profiles tremble?
Pierluigi Paganini: He's 20-year-old hacker. It is embarrassing, but a young and annoyed man stole and leaked personal data belonging to hundreds of German politicians. According to the authorities, the youngster is still studying and lives with his parents. He also confessed to have acted because he was annoyed about the politicians' discussions.
Pierluigi Paganini: We have to consider that the investigation is still ongoing. It is crucial in this phase to understand how this hacker has acted and if he has done it alone. Another aspect to investigate is the real motivation: the head of cyber-security in Germany, the head of the German Federal Police Office told journalists that it was too soon to be sure to know whether the young man was acting out of far-right sympathies.
I remind you that he targeted deputies of all parties in the Bundestag, with the exception of the representatives of the far-right Alternative for Germany, which is the main opposition group in the country. Anyway, because of his young age, he will be judged according to German law, in Germany. This means that the charges — in the case he acted alone and without a specific motivation, will be reviewed and the penalty will be less severe.
READ MORE: 20-Year-Old Man Arrested Over Politicians' Hacked Data in Germany — Reports
Sputnik: German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said he wants to tackle potential future threats by boosting the recruitment of cybersecurity experts to embed within the police force, and by setting up a round-the-clock IT crew that will use an early warning system software capable of both preventing and recognising this kind of attacks. But will these measures be enough to protect Germans from these sorts of incidents?
But specialised groups could help governments in recognising malicious activities, anomalous patterns associated with ongoing attacks, and other necessary countermeasures. We must do much more. In this case, it was only a youngster, but I tell you: imagine that outside, in the cyberspace, there are so many persistent attackers and malicious threat actors — and believe me, this kind of actors can do much more.
READ MORE: 'Public Will Know': Seehofer to Disclose How German Officials' Data Was Hacked
Sputnik: Speaking of APT Groups, many experts consider them the most dangerous kind of hackers. Who are they? And why should states protect them cells from their attacks?
And that's why I tell you, 'Imagine the power of these units and imagine what they can do with the information that has been leaked by the youngster.' That's why such kind of incidents are very dangerous because a threat actor could use this information, for example, to move a specific spear phishing attack or, for example, to gather information, gather intelligence about specific people inside the government of another state.
The views expressed in this article are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.
