Berlin/Potsdam – While Russian hackers sharpen their claws, Germany is still busy looking for the toolbox. Security agencies across the West – including Germany’s BND, BfV, and BSI – recently issued a joint warning: Russian military intelligence unit GRU 26165 (a.k.a. Fancy Bear, APT28, Forest Blizzard – pick your codename) is actively targeting Western transport and logistics networks. Why? To spy on and potentially sabotage supply routes to Ukraine.
The methods range from hacked IP cameras near borders and ports, to orchestrated arson attacks on supply chains. The goal: disruption and disinformation. According to the Verfassungsschutz, Russia continues these operations regardless of any future ceasefire – viewing Europe not as a partner, but as a strategic opponent.
Meanwhile, in Germany's energy sector, the situation isn’t any less alarming. Cyberattacks are rising sharply. Transmission operators like 50Hertz and Amprion admit to daily threats – but refuse to detail their defenses. The official statistics? Surprisingly… optimistic. According to the Interior Ministry (based on BSI data), there were zero cyberattacks on major grid operators between 2020 and 2024. Energy experts call this laughable. Or terrifying. Possibly both.
To align with EU regulations, the German cabinet has finally approved the national implementation of NIS-2 – a cybersecurity directive meant to protect around 30,000 companies across sectors like energy, health, transport, finance, and digital infrastructure.
Problem: the EU deadline passed in October 2024, and Germany missed it. Badly. There's now an infringement procedure underway in Brussels. And a related law – the so-called KRITIS umbrella law, designed to better protect critical infrastructure from sabotage and disasters – is still in limbo due to February's snap elections.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) insists it’s all “urgent.” Just… not urgent enough for a timeline.
Germany faces a digital battleground – but with analogue reflexes. As Russia launches coordinated cyberattacks, Germany responds with overdue legislation, fragmented reporting systems, and baffling statistics.
Or, to put it bluntly:
The Bears are in the network.
The watchdogs are still setting up the fence.
And somewhere in Berlin, someone’s rebooting a firewall from 2007.
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Sources: https://www.bsi.bund.de/DE/Service-Navi/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/Presse2025/250730_NIS-2-Regierungsentwurf.html
https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/sicherheit-energiebranche-geraet-in-den-fokus-von-cyber-attentaetern/100143861.html?_gl=1*sojvlu*_up*MQ..*_gs*MQ..&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0ePY0PPojgMVw5GDBx2CDwnzEAAYASAAEgID9vD_BwE
https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/westliche-staaten-schlagen-wegen-russischen-cyberattacken-alarm/100129827.html?_gl=1*claw09*_up*MQ..*_gs*MQ..&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0ePY0PPojgMVw5GDBx2CDwnzEAAYASAAEgID9vD_BwE
*This article was created with the help of ChatGPT in consideration of current market events. The prompt creation and supervision of the article was carried out by the author, who sees his opinion represented herein.
Michael Martens is CEO of RIEDEL Networks and author of numerous technical articles, industry statements and commentaries in relevant publications. With a clear view of technological developments and their impact on the economy and society, he regularly classifies current topics and takes a stand on key issues relating to digital infrastructure.
From time to time, however, his fingers get itchy: then he leaves traditional specialist communication and picks up on current market events in the form of a gloss or satirical commentary. With subtle irony and a penchant for exaggeration, he scrutinizes industry-specific trends, political decisions and technological absurdities - always with the aim of providing food for thought and questioning familiar perspectives with a wink.
For these excursions into satirical commentary, he occasionally draws on the support of ChatGPT - always with his own conceptual control, editorial revision and clear responsibility for content.
His contributions deliberately operate at the interface between specialist knowledge and humor - and invite readers to view even complex topics from an unusual perspective.
RIEDEL Networks is a privately held, global network provider focused on customized networks. We are listed in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Global WAN Services as a niche provider specializing in mid-sized international enterprises and the media and events sector. With our own global backbone, we help companies to be connected worldwide. Our services include internet connectivity, MPLS, SD-WAN, SASE, Cloud Connect, security and much more. Our customers come from various industries and value quality, security and reliability. RIEDEL Networks is a 100% company of the RIEDEL Communications Group in Wuppertal, Germany, and is fully privately owned by Thomas Riedel.