Hacker attack: a warning for German politicians?
A major hacker attack against hundreds of German politicians and public figures became public on Friday. The authorities have confirmed that their phone numbers, addresses, copies of tenancy agreements and voice messages were posted online via Twitter. This sets alarm bells ringing for journalists.
Force companies to protect our data
Politicians must finally enforce a set of rules to prevent future cyberattacks, Deutschlandfunk demands:
“Security updates should be mandatory for all devices with network functions for their entire lifespan. And Internet services should be obliged to sufficiently secure their servers against hacker attacks - and also to protect individual user accounts better from data hacking. The function for trying out different passwords should be taboo, along with purported security procedures such as asking for the mother's maiden name or a pet's name. ... Here, the product liability rules must be tightened as quickly as possible, and if necessary high penalties should be introduced to ensure that companies finally put more money into the protection of our data.”
Wake up like the US after 9/11
After this attack Germany needs to thoroughly scrutinise its defence policy, news.bg finds:
“Just as the US completely revised its thinking and actions in the area of security and terrorism after 9/11, Germany must now take its security into its own hands, regardless of who was behind the attack. It's high time for the German government to take steps to ensure that its defence budget is raised to the 2 percent of the gross domestic produce agreed in Wales in 2014. ... This hacker attack is clearly a military cyberattack. Military actions are increasingly taking place in the virtual space. However, the problems they cause are entirely real.”
Politicians as fair game
The Guardian worries that such attacks could stop people from seeking public office:
“The prankish, anarchistic mentality that seems to lie behind the German hacks may be closer to vandalism than to violent assault, but it must still be shocking and distressing to the victims. … When politicians are considered fair game for this kind of attack, in which the daily undramatic details of their domestic lives are hung out for passersby to gawk at, the likeliest response is that fewer ordinary, decent people will wish to go into politics.”