This Article is From Dec 08, 2016

Russia Trying To Destabilize Germany: Intelligence Agency

Russia Trying To Destabilize Germany: Intelligence Agency

Russia has been blamed for the hacking and release of Democratic National Committee emails.

Berlin: Germany's domestic intelligence agency says Russia is trying to destabilize German society and the state with propaganda campaigns and cyberattacks.

The blunt warning from Germany's BfV agency comes less than a year before the country is expected to hold a general election.

Agency chief Hans-Georg Maassen said in a statement Thursday that "there is growing evidence for attempts to influence the federal election next year."

His agency has seen an increase in "aggressive cyber-espionage" targeting German politicians.

Russia has been blamed for the hacking and release of Democratic National Committee emails before the U.S. presidential election.

Maassen says "automated opinion forming" with so-called bots could be used to spread fake news on social media.

Russia has in previously strongly denied its involvement in orchestrating cyberattacks on foreign soil.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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