Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the BfV, issued a warning on Monday that a cybercrime group belonging to Russian military intelligence (GRU) had been behind a number of online attacks against NATO and EU countries.

Together with US intelligence and other international partners, the BfV found that groups belonging to GRU Unit 29155 were "responsible for computer network operations against global targets for the purposes of espionage, sabotage, and reputational harm since at least 2020."

It cautioned that the unit, also known as Cadet Blizzard or Ember Bear, was behind the WhisperGate malware attacks against Ukrainian targets in January 2022, a month before Russia invaded the country.

Unit 29155 also "attacked networks in NATO member states in Europe and North America as well as countries in Latin America and Central Asia," the BfV said.

Unit thought to be behind SPD cyberattack

The warning comes after Berlin accused Moscow of a spate of cyberattacks against the ruling Social Democrats (SPD), and a number of German companies in the IT, logistics, and aerospace sectors. The attacks involved stealing and publishing sensitive data.

The same GRU unit is also suspected of being behind the 2018 poisonings of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK.

es/kb (Reuters, AFP