Cybersecurity Watchdog In Germany Raises Alert Levels

Germany’s alert level against cyberattacks has now been raised to “heightened readiness” as the country prepares for its parliamentary elections.

The Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported that government websites are already the target of daily assaults, which are expected to increase significantly during the elections.

“We are noticing attacks against government networks on a daily basis,” Arne Schoenbohm, president of Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), told the newspaper.

According to VentureBeat, the BSI is working closely with election officials, political parties and German Federal States in order to determine the best way to safeguard the election against cyberattacks.

Though details weren’t provided on the number and types of alert levels, Welt am Sonntag did report that the level was also raised as a result of the impact cyberattacks had on the U.S. Presidential election last year.

Admiral James Stavridis, once NATO’s Supreme Commander, recently took the stage at this year’s Innovation Project conference to warn of the waves amid a tumultuous sea of hackers, state actors and cyberthieves out to grab secrets and topple the security and very functionality of the activities that are so vital to any country’s well-being.

Four security experts — heads of firms with high-level and ground-level experience protecting individuals and corporations from digital threats within and without — discussed the ways we are vulnerable to cyberthreats. One panelist noted that, in general, IT systems are poorly managed, with executives agreeing that it is hard to attract the talent necessary to truly be proactive in the fight against cyberattacks; private and public collaboration is needed.