Russian Hackers ‘Threaten’ German Election

Politicians in Germany warned Monday that Russian hackers could undermine the 2017 German election. Wolfgang Bosbach, a senior member of parliament in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party, said the election is at risk of “outside manipulation” from Russian agents. Bosbach’s remarks come amid a flurry of intelligence reports in the U.S. that contend hackers influenced the election of Donald Trump. Kremlin officials have denied interfering with the U.S. election, but Russia has also been blamed for last year’s breach of German parliament computer networks. “There is a big danger that hacker attacks on parties and factions, and disinformation campaigns will increase,” Stephan Mayer, of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, said. “We must grapple with this urgently and arm ourselves with appropriate laws.”