Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung sees data leak as attack on democracy
(dpa)
Frankfurt - Germany's conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, warned in an editorial Saturday that the massive data leak against Bundestag MPs was an attack on parliament - and as such, on democracy itself. The paper writes, in part:
"As of yet it is not clear which sources or networks the data originated from, let alone who was behind the breach - organized crime, political extremists, or perhaps even states like China or Russia.
As is often the case in such situations, evidence [of the hackers' activities] is easily masked and one never really gets a definitive answer on who was behind it. The culprit or culprits can never really be nailed down, but they get the opportunity to demonstrate what they can do - and in some cases they can literally profit from the attack.
Even if the hacked data includes 'sensitive' information, every hacking represents a potential case of blackmail.
It is this that makes this attack what it was rightly termed on Friday, namely an attack on parliament and thereby an attack on democracy. Especially as it mostly affected MPs in the Bundestag ."
As is often the case in such situations, evidence [of the hackers' activities] is easily masked and one never really gets a definitive answer on who was behind it. The culprit or culprits can never really be nailed down, but they get the opportunity to demonstrate what they can do - and in some cases they can literally profit from the attack.
Even if the hacked data includes 'sensitive' information, every hacking represents a potential case of blackmail.
It is this that makes this attack what it was rightly termed on Friday, namely an attack on parliament and thereby an attack on democracy. Especially as it mostly affected MPs in the Bundestag ."