Pro-Russian group claims cyber attack on German government websites

German government websites, including Chancellor Angela Merkel's page, were hacked Wednesday in an attack claimed by a group demanding Berlin end support for the Ukrainian government, shortly before their leaders were to meet.

Authorities took counter-measures but failed to halt the attack, which left the sites periodically inaccessible from 10 a.m., Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said. Screens gave Internet users error messages instead.

It was believed to be the first successful prolonged attack on the government's websites, which intelligence agency officials say face about 3,000 attempted hacker assaults each day.

The head of the BfV, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, said recently that about five of the daily attacks came from foreign intelligence agencies.

Wednesday's hacking, which also knocked out the foreign ministry's website, came just before a meeting in Berlin between Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk and German President Joachim Gauck. Yatseniuk was expected to meet Merkel on Thursday.

"Our service provider's data center is under a severe attack that has apparently been caused by a variety of external systems," Seibert said at a news conference, when asked if Ukrainian hackers were responsible.

He said he had no other details. Germany has been a firm supporter of Kiev throughout its confrontation with Russia, which Kiev accuses of aiding armed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

In a statement on its website, a group calling itself CyberBerkut claimed responsibility.

"Berkut" is a reference to the riot squads used by the government of Ukraine's pro-Russian former President Viktor Yanukovich, who was ousted during violent protests last February.

"CyberBerkut has blocked German Chancellor and the Bundestag's (lower parliamentary house) websites," it said on www.cyber-berkut.org.

The claim could not be independently verified.

"We appeal (to) all people and (the) government of Germany to stop financial and political support of criminal regime in Kiev, which unleashed a bloody civil war," it said.

The attack comes after U.S. investigators said they believed North Korea had probably hired hackers to help with a massive cyber attack against Sony Pictures. North Korea blamed the United States for Internet outages it suffered soon afterward.

Seibert said the goal of Wednesday's hackers was evidently to overload servers that administer the government's websites, such as www.bundeskanzlerin.de, www.bundesregierung.de and www.cvd.bundesregierung.de.

The websites, which include general information, speeches and podcasts from the chancellor and general government information, are used by journalists and the public.

Reuters