Cyberattack on German CDU through CheckPoint flaw
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The recent cyberattack on the German CDU party headquarters was facilitated by exploiting a critical vulnerability in Check Point Network Security Gateways.
This vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-24919, had been recently addressed by Check Point with a patch released at the end of May. The exploit was combined with a phishing attack, further compromising the CDU's security.
The breach became known on Friday 31st of May and was detailed on Saturday 2nd of June 2024. Attackers seem to be professional hackers, with no confirmed attribution. Suspicions point to to APT29 (part of Russian GRU)
German authirities are involved but not commenting - The Gederal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is involved but not commenting, the Federal Ministry of the Interior has acknowledged the attack as serious, indicating a professional actor. The Bundestag and parliamentary group leaders informed about possible precautions
The timing of the attack, occurring just one week before the European elections, has raised concerns among security experts. These experts have warned about "hack and leak" campaigns that could manipulate public opinion through the release of contextualized information.
Update - According to the German weekly 'Der Spiegel', the attackers gained access to critical data within the party's network and had undetected access to the CDU's party network for at least 14 days. The specifics of the compromised data have not been disclosed, but it is known that critical data was accessed.
