Russia hacked Danish defence for two years, minister tells newspaper

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Russia hacked Danish defence for two years, minister tells newspaper

REUTERS

 

Denmark’s Defence Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen speaks during the official ceremony welcoming the deployment of a multi-national NATO battalion in Tapa, Estonia, April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

 

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Russia has hacked the Danish defence and gained access to employees' emails in 2015 and 2016, NATO member Denmark's defence minister told newspaper Berlingske on Sunday.

 

The report comes at a time when several Western governments, including the United States, France and Britain, have accused Russia of resorting to hacking to influence elections -- allegations Moscow has repeatedly dismissed as baseless.

 

A report from the Danish Defence Intelligence Service's unit for cyber security said "a foreign player" had spied against Danish authorities and gained access to non-classified documents.

 

It did not name the country behind the espionage, but Foreign Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen told Berlingske it was Russia.

 

"It is linked to the intelligence services or central elements in the Russian government, and it is a constant battle to keep them away," Frederiksen told the newspaper.

 

A spokeswoman from the Danish Defence Ministry confirmed that the minister had been quoted correctly but said he would give no further comments for the time being.

 

Spokespeople at the Kremlin were not available to comment on Sunday.

 

Frederiksen told Berlingske the hacking had been possible due to insufficient security around emails with non-classified material, something that has since been improved.

 

The group behind the attack went under the name APT28 or Fancy Bear and was one of two groups which allegedly gained illegal access to U.S. democrats' emails last year, according to Berlingske.

 

Frederiksen said in January that Denmark plans to increase military spending in response to Russian missile deployments in the Baltic region that it perceives as a threat.

 

(Reporting by Teis Jensen, additional reporting by Maria Kiselyova; editing by Clelia Oziel)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-04-24

[Scott]

A troll post has been removed.   Continuing to call things fake news with no evidence of such will result in suspensions.   It's trolling.   It's against forum rules.  

[khunPer]

That news-story is real enough, all over Danish media, but it's rather like someone stealing little money from the cookie-box in the canteen than a catastrophe, the Danish news-stories says...

 

–Some employees in the defense fell in a trap with fake (Russian) eMails saying the IT-system should be upgraded, and they needed to key their pass-code, and directed them to a fake site looking like a real defense IT-system page. That gave the hackers access to some not that important, and not classified eMail communication, the Danish stories claim this morning.

 

Me, I just wonder that employees in the defense have not been warned about simple tricks like that; but there's probably so much I don't understand...

[Dieterkr]

Well I believe that the Danish defence computers where hacked, but I certainty do not believe that is was by way of Russia. First there are no evidence, second since i know the politician Claus Hjort Frederiksen, who has had numerous post as secretary of finance, secretary of the interior and others and always has been dishonest most of the time, I just don't believe in him any more. Sorry, but this Russian fobi has gone way out of proportion. 

Edited April 24, 2017 by Dieterkr