HAMBURG/BREMEN (dpa-AFX) - Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression, hackers have increasingly targeted German seaports. The number of cyber attacks on the Port of Hamburg has increased more than a hundredfold since then, the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) told the German Press Agency. "The HPA registers many attacks on critical infrastructure." According to the operators, the ports in Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven are also increasingly being targeted by cyber criminals. The largest port in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern kept a low profile on the issue: Rostock Port did not want to provide any information.

HPA stated that the port of Hamburg's strategy for defending against attacks had proved successful. The port administration is in contact with partner ports such as Barcelona, Singapore and Los Angeles. It is important that all partners along the supply chain protect themselves to the best of their ability and learn from each other. The authority did not elaborate on the form of the cyber attacks or who was behind them.

Bremenports: many attacks are fended off automatically

Port operator Bremenports has also seen an increase in cyber attacks since the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. "The majority of these are more or less untargeted attacks that can be fended off by automated systems," a spokesperson said. Larger attacks have so far been detected and combated in good time in cooperation with the Federal Office for Information Security.

Niedersachsen Ports: origin of the attacks concealed

The critical infrastructure in Wilhelmshaven is increasingly the target of cyber attacks, according to a spokesperson for port operator Niedersachsen Ports. The origin of the cyber attacks is concealed, which is why the impact of the Russian attack could not be directly assessed. "We assume that basically all politically and diplomatically destructive behaviour worldwide in a globalized and networked world also leads to increased cyber attacks." The probability of a successful attack is still low, the spokesperson assured.

According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the number of cybercrime offenses has recently increased. In the narrower sense, the term covers crimes that target computer systems and networks themselves. It can also include cyber espionage or cyber terrorism. This mainly relates to acts committed from abroad or from an unknown location./miu/DP/mis