Angela Merkel ‘hacked’: German government pages taken down as part of Ukraine protest
CyberBerkut group said they were trying to pressure Germany to stop supporting Kiev government
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A pro-Russia hacker group has apparently taken down websites including the page belonging to Angela Merkel as part of a protest against the country’s support of the Ukrainian government.
The attack had left the sites periodically inaccessible since this morning, Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said. Counter measures were taken against the attack.
In a statement on its website, a group calling itself CyberBerkut took responsibility.
'Berkut' is a reference to the riot squads used by the government of Ukraine's former pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich, who was ousted during violent protests last February.
"CyberBerkut has blocked German Chancellor and the Bundestag's (lower parliamentary house) websites," it said on http://www.cyber-berkut.org.
The claim could not be independently verified.
"We appeal (to) all people and (the) government of Germany to stop financial and political support of criminal regime in Kiev, which unleashed a bloody civil war," it said.
"Our service provider's data centre is under a severe attack that has apparently been caused by a variety of external systems," Seibert told a news conference when asked if Ukrainian hackers were responsible.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk is due to meet with German President Joachim Gauck in Berlin later on Wednesday.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments