Got a Trojan? Call H Like Hacker for Help

On Friday last week, German media reported that government computers had obviously fallen prey to a Chinese hacker attack using Trojans.

Of course, one might wonder about the state of German government
IT-departements, after - some months ago and deplorably enough - files were deleted which contained crucial evidence on whether German special units had conducted their tasks lawfully in Afghanistan and possibly about their role in Gitmo.

Well, it seems
that if Germans decide to make a laugh of themselves they go about it
just as thoroughly as about any business.

Instead of trying to keep damage as limited as possible under the circumstances,they decided not only to publish the fact alleging the Chinese government for the attacks. They also revealed the fact that obviously right up to the center of power, the Bundeskanzleramt, all infrastructure is linked to the public Internet. Obviously, without meaningful scanning of mail attachments.

The
story gets an amusing twist against the backdrop that German Interior Minister, Wolfgang
Schäuble, has been tirelessly propagating spying on citizens using Trojans (dubbed Bundestrojaner in political debates).

A measure which most users probably fear less now than before.

In the meantime, the Chinese government, in the runup to chancellor
Merkel's visit, has pledged to stop all attacks. If only all hackers were such nice guys. Maybe talking to them works wonders for the rest of us, too. After all, empathy could be the key to enhanced security.