Hacker attack on police cell phones: Interior Ministry draws drastic consequences!

Hacker attack on police cell phones: Interior Ministry draws drastic consequences!

After a worrying hacker attack on the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State Police's official cell phones, the Interior Ministry in Schwerin is forced to take far-reaching measures. Again NDR reported, the ministry plans to replace all servers responsible for managing smartphones. This is in response to the possibility that malware may already be embedded in the server structure.

The hacker attack, which took place at the beginning of June, resulted in around 3,500 smartphones having to be examined for malware. The hope is that they can at least continue to be used for telephone calls. 120 mobile phones from the disaster relief inventory are to be used as a short-term interim solution. This is particularly important because the state police currently have to rely on old radio technologies, which severely limits their operational capability.

Political reactions and demands

Police leadership is dismayed by the incident and has already expressed its concerns. In the opposition, the pressure on Interior Minister Christian Pegel (SPD) is increasing. The CDU and the AfD have announced separate urgent motions to deal with the attack in the state parliament. CDU MP Ann-Christin von Allwörden emphasizes that this is a repeated threat to public infrastructure from cyber attacks. On the other hand, the SPD and the Left reject the proposals; they instead advocate a discussion in government question time.

The police union (GdP) not only called for quick clarification, but also a significant increase in IT specialists. Given the complexity of such attacks, it is essential to bring experts on board to improve IT security, such as Security Insiders reported.

Cyber ​​attacks as a growing threat

This incident adds to worrying statistics about the increasing number of cyber attacks on municipalities and authorities. Loud Grant Thornton Such attacks, which often include ransomware and phishing campaigns, have become the norm. In October 2023, for example, more than 70 administrations in North Rhine-Westphalia fell victim to such attacks, which underlines the urgency of security warnings and proactive measures.

The Interior Ministry gives the all-clear that police officers' personal data did not fall into the wrong hands. Nevertheless, the investigations against the perpetrators are still ongoing, while the options for ensuring IT security are to be published. The implementation of a comprehensive security concept is crucial to prevent such attacks in the future and to ensure the digital sovereignty of the authorities.

The incident highlights the importance of investing in IT security and training employees to deal with digital threats. The coming weeks will show what concrete measures the Interior Ministry is implementing and whether it will succeed in restoring the population's trust in the security of the police.