Denmark blamed Russia APT28 group for cyber intrusions in Defense Ministry Emails

Today the Danish Government officially blamed Russia for cyber attacks against its Defense Ministry. Denmark denounced a cyber intrusion in several Defense Ministry’s email accounts. The accusation comes after the publishing by the Centre for Cyber Security on Sunday of a report that accuses a Russian APT group of a security breach that affected emails of defense ministry employees in 2015 and 2016.“This is part of a continuing war from the Russian side in this field, where we are seeing a very aggressive Russia,” Defense Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen told Danish news agency Ritzau.

According to the Ministry, the emails don’t contain secret information, but the intrusion represents a serious threat to the state.

“The hacked emails don’t contain military secrets, but it is of course serious,”

According to the report, hackers belonging to the notorious APT28 group (also known as Pawn Storm, Sednit, Sofacy, Fancy Bear and Tsar Team), were responsible for the cyber espionage campaign that targeted the Danish Defense Ministry.

The APT28 group was also involved in many other attacks against a number of European states, including Germany and France.

In Denmark, the Centre for Cyber Security said earlier this year that the threat against Danish authorities and companies remained “very high”.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – APT28, cyber espionage)

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