Fancy Bear actions are “intolerable and unacceptable,” complains German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock (pictured).

War of the Words

What’s the craic? The AP’s Frank Bajak, Karel Janicek, Stephen Graham, Samuel Petrequin and Foster Klug report: German foreign minister says Russia will face consequences

“Consequences”
Germany on Friday accused Russian military agents of hacking the top echelons of … sensitive government and industrial targets, and was joined by NATO and fellow European countries in warning that Russia’s cyberespionage would have consequences. … Officials said they did so by exploiting … a previously unknown vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook, [in] a hacking campaign that persisted for months.
…
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock … attributed the hack to a unit of Russia’s GRU military intelligence unit: “This is absolutely intolerable and unacceptable and will have consequences.” … Relations between Russia and Germany were already tense, with Germany providing military support to Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.

It’s part of a wider story. For The Record, it’s Alexander Martin: NATO and EU condemn ‘intensifying’ Russian sabotage and hybrid operations

“Counterterrorism”
A range of activities have come to light following counterintelligence efforts in Czechia, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the United Kingdom. NATO described these as “part of an intensifying campaign of activities which Russia continues to carry out across the Euro-Atlantic area, including on Alliance territory and through proxies.” … The EU’s political executive alleg[es] the cyber campaign “shows Russia’s continuous pattern of irresponsible behavior in cyberspace.”
…
German … prosecutors also recently announced charges against a military officer who attempted to provide intelligence to Russian spy agencies. British counterterrorism police have arrested six Bulgarian nationals in the past year suspected of spying under the direction of the Russian state. … The Kremlin has denied responsibility for all of the above allegations.

It “will have consequences,” Baerbock  said. Like what? Voice of satan just laughs:

I very much doubt Germany will do anything. The main visible thing they could do is give Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, but their … chancellor is dead set against it. … The EU is realizing they are next in the crosshairs but they act so slowly and in an indecisive fashion, Russia has all the time it needs.

With less equivocation and more saber rattling, u/Common-Ad6470 cuts to the chase:

One consequence would be for Germany to stop ****ing about and finally give Ukraine the Taurus missiles it so desperately needs. That would send a clear message to the Kremlin.

Ouch. How about more jaw-jaw and less war-war? Jellied Eel thinks laterally:

It was around a year ago that Baerbock told a different news conference that Germany was at war with Russia. [UK foreign minister] Cameron more recently said he’s fine with British weapons being used against Russia, and of course [French president] Macron’s busy trying to drum up support for other NATO member’s boots on the ground in Ukraine. So it’s hardly surprising Russia is retaliating, but once again, Baerbock opens mouth and inserts foot. … What’s Germany going to do? Supply more weapons?
…
Of course our ‘leaders’ could do something slightly more useful. Like use the EU’s muscle to force hardware and software vendors to take security more seriously.

Wait. Pause. We’re talking about Outlook exploits after the vulnerability was patched. Surely it’s government IT that should take it seriously? Incarnate reminds us of the timeline:

That just doesn’t make any sense. Microsoft bundles all of the patches together, and they are cumulative. Even if one decided to not patch quickly in October 2022, if they installed any patches from November 2022 through today, they would have received the update for this.

Is there a technology solution? This Anonymous Coward says yes, but we have “no will:”

UK, Europe and USA could together remove Russia from the Internet tomorrow if they had the political will, remove all peering with them, revoke all their IP Addresses via RIPE issued DROP orders and they would be done. Hard to take any threats seriously when literally hundreds of companies still accept their traffic.

Lest we forget, how did we get here? EvilDrSmith reminds us:

It’s Putin’s inability to distinguish between Russia and Ukraine that is the problem.

Meanwhile, u/RezTrucker simply laughs:

What? Is Germany gonna ask for Russia to write an apology?

And Finally:

If you only watch one F1 Grand Prix this year, make it Miami

CW: Alex Jacques’ confusing British blather—“momentarily,” “my word,” “clobbers the bollard.”

Previously in And Finally

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Image source: Government of Ukraine (cc:by; leveled and cropped)