00:00Next, Germany and Spain have issued arrest warrants for seven suspected members of a pro-Russian hacking group accused of carrying out cyber attacks against critical infrastructure, arms makers, power companies and public authorities.
00:13German authorities say 24 premises were searched. Europol and multiple countries coordinating a global swoop against the cyber attackers.
00:21The no-name group used Telegram to recruit volunteers for cyber attacks. Germany and Europol confirming that detail.
00:28Let's bring in Nick Holdsworth. Nick Holdsworth, of course, our correspondent in Berlin. Great to see you, Nick.
00:33What more can you tell us then about this group?
00:38Well, apparently they've recruited around 4,000 people, 4,000 hackers across Europe via Telegram channels, chat forums, gaming forums, that sort of thing.
00:54It's believed the hackers commanded from Russia. Six of the seven people that we know about are believed to be Russian, believed to be resided in Russia.
01:10Five of them have been named. Their photographs have been distributed by Europol.
01:14There's still one sealed prosecution package in Germany.
01:21We know that they've caused a lot of trouble across Europe.
01:25There have been a series of so-called distributed denial of service attacks.
01:32Malware, spyware has been distributed.
01:35Attacks on banks, transport networks, that sort of thing across Europe.
01:42And also in Germany, attacks on the military infrastructure.
01:47There have been almost daily cyber attacks on the Bundeswehr and associated companies.
01:53Companies, for example, that supply software, communication software.
01:57In one case, a company which had access to, apparently had access to Germany's overall defence plan.
02:04Now, it's not known whether the cyber hackers were able to obtain information on those specifics.
02:10But it looks like the cyber attacks across Europe, and particularly here in Germany, have been ramped up.
02:17And the German federal police are saying that the main danger is that there's a lot of pro-Russian propaganda being pushed out by this group,
02:25quite apart from the malware and the distributed denial of service attacks,
02:29and that this can undermine public security.
02:32But there are more direct threats.
02:34For example, a bank may be attacked.
02:38Customer information may be stolen.
02:41That sort of thing.
02:41So, these are very real risks.
02:43And they are seen definitely as part of what is now known as hybrid warfare.
02:48That Russia has been at war with Ukraine for over three years now.
02:52And this kind of cyber criminality is very much associated with Russian efforts to use hybrid warfare to undermine institutions and the military in the West.
03:03What seems phenomenal, Nick, is the scale of what they've done.
03:06You've detailed this blow by blow by blow by blow.
03:10It's, I suppose, indicative of how effective this operation has been.
03:15Yeah, I mean, you know, 4,000 people recruited.
03:21There are a lot of young people, mostly young men, I understand, out there who spend a lot of time on their computers,
03:27who are very sophisticated at gaining access to other people's computers or just part of a network,
03:35effectively human bots allowing their computers to be used as part of a network
03:40to fire these cyber attacks across the Internet and into private networks, company networks, military networks, civil service networks, government networks, that sort of thing.
03:53And also, we understand that they're using cyber currency, Bitcoin, that sort of thing, to pay the people involved.
04:03And a lot of these people, you know, they're probably young men.
04:06And a lot of them may just think this is a bit of fun, a bit of a thrill.
04:09And, hey, you know, I've got a few hundred euros worth of Bitcoin into my BitWallet or whatever.
04:16They may not be fully aware of the sophistication of this operation or how this is actually being run from Moscow.
04:24I mean, this has been set up for years now in Russia.
04:27There are places where people are employed.
04:29They're going every day and they're on their computers sending false information out, sending messages that support Russia.
04:36This is just one step beyond that, you know, actual criminal malware, criminal denial of service attacks, that sort of thing.
04:44Nick Holdsworth in Berlin.
04:46Thank you very much indeed for that briefing.
04:47It is a very scary picture you're painting there of what this has been able to do,
04:51but nonetheless dismantled by Europol and German authorities with arrest warrants out for some of the ringleaders.
04:58Nick Holdsworth, our correspondent there in Berlin.
