The Bundestag tests its own IT with phishing emails

IT security is more important than ever these days. This is particularly true when it comes to government institutions. In order to test how well it is protected, the Bundestag has now secretly tested its members with phishing emails… probably with mixed results.

Bundestag employees put to the test

Again Mirror Reportedly, members of the German Bundestag and employees have received several special emails in the past few days. The recipients were asked to click on a link. Anyone who did this would reach a website that asked them to provide personal information such as logins and passwords.

The emails that were supposedly sent from the European Parliament actually came from the IT department of the Bundestag. As part of a so-called pen test (penetration test), they secretly checked the security of the facility and the resilience of the MPs using the phishing emails. The test was decided by a commission of the Council of Elders, which is responsible for information technology.

Some pass, others fail

IT has now informed its ‘victims’ about the process. The corresponding letter states that many MPs forwarded the emails to a reporting office “as intended” or contacted the Bundestag’s IT hotline. As can also be seen from the text, there were probably some recipients who were lured by the emails.

I would like to ask everyone who clicked on the links in the emails and entered login information and password if necessary to change their password as a precaution. IT security of the Bundestag

MPs such as Green Party politician Konstantin von Notz found words of praise for the test. “It is good that all constitutional bodies are making it their mission to increase their own resilience in light of the sharp increase in threats,” said the security expert.

Threat from hackers is growing

The Bundestag has been the victim of actual cyber attacks several times in the past. In 2015, alleged hackers from the Russian military intelligence service GRU stole 16 gigabytes of data and paralyzed the Bundestag’s entire IT infrastructure.

Phishing emails were also used back then. Just last week, Microsoft painted a bleak picture of the current threat posed by cyber attacks in its annual security report. It is uncertain whether the current test in the Bundestag will actually help against the attackers’ increasingly sophisticated schemes in an emergency. However, raising awareness of the topic is never wrong.