Germany Reportedly Seeks US Assistance After Hacking Breach (bloomberg.com) 40
German authorities sought help from the U.S. National Security Agency after discovering that hackers had released private data linked to Chancellor Angela Merkel and hundreds of other German politicians, Bild newspaper reported. From a report: Responding to the biggest data dump of its kind in the country, German investigators wanted the U.S. intelligence agency to lean on Twitter to shut down profiles with links to the data, Bild said, citing unidentified security officials. German authorities argued that U.S. citizens were among thousands of people exposed by the data dump. As investigators seek to find out how data including email addresses, mobile phone numbers and private chat protocols were exposed, politicians took aim at Germany's Federal Office for Information Security, known as BSI, for failing to respond after receiving initial indications in December.
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Well, probably because they turned a blind eye when the NSA was caught snooping on Merkel's private phone calls....
And "Bild" isn't exactly some reputable or unbiased source.
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She deserves to be given all the respect that she has given to the current administration.
You give what you get, at least when you decide on tit for tat, rather than trying to be the better person and helping regardless.
Re: Couldn't have happened to a nicer chancellor. (Score:1)
Germany never does a good thing with secret side deals. We should all trust what Germany says.
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Germany never does a good thing with secret side deals. We should all trust what Germany says.
Part of why I'm not calling out anyone specifically. I'm not particularly thrilled with most parties involved in politics these days. Though my present level of annoyance means I'm not keeping up as much as I probably should on political activities if I want to comment clearly on anything.
Re:Trump is a traitor, zero respect due from allie (Score:4, Insightful)
Very wise of them (Score:5, Funny)
They are smart to go to the source of the hack. And ask nicely!
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You insensitive clod.
I came here to say just that.
Ah, Bild. (Score:1)
The crappiest crap press around here. I wouldn't take that seriously.
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The NSA/CIA probably did the hacking (Score:3, Insightful)
Except mostly incompetently given that they are government workers.
"Full take" at DECIX (Score:1)
Our government allows the US to spy on us, because snooping on one's own people is frowned upon. This "asking for help" is just how German law enforcement circumvents the Fernmeldegeheimnis (privacy of telecommunications). They are not allowed to record everybody's internet traffic, but they can ask someone who does record everything.
Was Germany helpful when Wikileaks arrived? (Score:1)
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Yes, they were. For example, they didn't make a stink when it turned out that the NSA is spying on its allies, including the highest levels of government.
it could be worse (Score:2, Troll)
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It's easy to show a drop in crime when you change the way crimes are reported to manipulate public opinion. You see if we don't collect information about the ethnicity or religion of perpetrators, then there cannot be a correlation of crime rates to those populations! For what crimes that stubbornly remain, refusal to investigate ensures that such crime can be ignored by simple under reporting. What's left is a measure of crimes by the native population and a reliable way to shame and demoralize them int
This is a f*cking disgrace! (Score:2)
After years of "stopping evil hackers in their tracks" by making possession of hacking tools illegal, and mostly by hoping for the best while furiously clicking in some Internet Explorer input mask, Germany finally wakes up to the real world. Well, not really yet, because Seehofer still hasn't stepped down over this, the BSI still hasn't been disbanded and restarted from scratch (this time with real people), and I guess Munich is still going ahead full steam towards a Windows only administration, because "s