Berlin, Nov 15, 2024 -Germany’s national statistics agency Destatis said Friday it had been the victim of a suspected data leak, following a media report that the organisation had been attacked by pro-Russian hackers.

Destatis said in a statement it had “received indications of a possible data breach on November 13” in its IDEV data-sharing system, adding that the portal had been “taken offline as a precaution until further notice”.

The Federal Office for Information Security has been asked to investigate the incident, Destatis said.

The head of Destatis Ruth Brand is also the coordinator for national elections, a critical role as Germany is headed for a snap general election in late February.

Earlier this week the Neue Zuercher Zeitung (NZZ) newspaper reported that 3.8 gigabytes of data had been stolen from Destatis, probably from the IDEV platform, and was being offered for sale on a so-called dark net forum.

The stolen information was mostly about businesses who use the portal to upload data, such as names, addresses and login details for their accounts.

According to the NZZ, the attack was carried out by a group of pro-Russian hackers from Indonesia who have said they want to target NATO countries with their operations.

Germany is on high alert for possible sabotage attempts in the run-up to February’s election.

German intelligence chiefs have repeatedly warned of attempts by Moscow and allied actors to spread disinformation or carry out cyber attacks.

In May, Berlin accused a group known as ATP28, which is linked to Russian military intelligence, of targeting members of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party.

jsk/sea/rlp