GERMAN SPACE CENTER UNDER CYBER ESPIONAGE ATTACK FOR MONTHS

A regular reader here, Ms. P.H., noticed this important article from our friends at Phys.org, and this is one that really raises the eyebrows:

German Space Research Center Under Espionage Attack

The DLR center stands for Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfaht e.V , the German Center for Air and Space Travel, located, as the article indicates, in Cologne, and with a budget approaching one billion euros annually, a drop in the bucket by NASA standards, but a relatively significant chunk of money nonetheless. But what is interesting is the article itself, which I reproduce in full below:

 "Germany's aeronautics and space research centre has for months been the target of a suspected cyber attack by a foreign intelligence service, a German news weekly reported Sunday.

"Der Spiegel said that several computers used by scientists and systems administrators at the Cologne-based DLR centre had been infiltrated by spy programmes.

"'The government classes the attack as extremely serious because it, among other things, is aimed at armament and rocket technolgies,' Spiegel said.

"In some computers IT experts found traces of spy programmes that were set up to destroy themselves on discovery, while others only activated themselves after months of lying in wait.

"Spiegel said the attacks were 'coordinated and systematic' and all the centre's operation systems were affected.

"IT forensic experts probing who could be behind the assault have turned up clues that seem to point to China, but Spiegel quoted an unidentifed 'insider' as saying they could also simply be 'camouflage'.

"Government sources said the case was being investigated but declined to confirm any details.

"The German aeronautics and space research centre is active in the fields of aeronautics, space, energy, transport and security and is involved in international cooperative ventures, according to its website."

The real question here is the implication of why anyone, China or otherwise, would want to spy on a German space research center. The article itself is citing a Der Spiegel article, which in turn references the usual unnamed "insider" who states that the espionage could simply be designed to make China look like the guilty party. In short, it could be anyone with an interest in snooping on a space rival's technology, from Russia, to the USSA, to France, the UK, China, India...anyone. However, in the wake of last week's revelations about German discontent and displeasure about the extent of US electronic spying coming from German Interior Minister Thomas de Maziere himself, the possibility that the "insider" might come from the German Interior Ministry is not out of the question, and in the context, the possibility that it is the USSA that is an equal possibility along with the other usual list of suspects, including China, cannot be discounted.

Another intriguing thing about the article is the statement that it had been going on for months, and that the target of the operation is "armaments and rockets." I suspect that there is little that the USSA or Russia might learn about space armaments or rockets from Germany, since all three countries are on a technological par (still, it's nice to know what the other guy's up to).

The real implication of the article is that the German Center is studying space weaponry and other systems... and the question is, why? I suspect, given the pressures on the dollar and the growing challenges to it, that the answer is clear: reserve currency status depends on space in today's world, and Germany, caught between two spheres of power and influence, has to have a redundancy capability to back it, or bolt from it, if and as necessary.

The real question will be to see if the German government ever announces who the ultimate culprit behind the spying was...

See you on the flip side.

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Joseph P. Farrell

Joseph P. Farrell has a doctorate in patristics from the University of Oxford, and pursues research in physics, alternative history and science, and "strange stuff". His book The Giza DeathStar, for which the Giza Community is named, was published in the spring of 2002, and was his first venture into "alternative history and science".

8 Comments

  1. old97polarcat on April 24, 2014 at 4:46 pm

    I’ve been listening to your interview with Ms. Fitts. Very interesting. I might be good to explain what “financial clearing” means to those of us who are not financially savvy. How and why does the US control clearing? The space aspect is satellite communications? What would BRICS have to do to create an independent clearing network? Also, how does owning the clearing system support the dollar as world reserve currency? Also, I assume that there must be as much behind the scenes information leverage (i.e., informational blackmail” going on behind the scenes in the major geopolitical crises. What keeps Putin from threatening to pop the cork on the US black budget projects it works so tirelessly to hide? I would think the ET/US relationship would come with a huge vulnerability in international negotiations. If you get Putin into a corner, would he not have the ability to knock a real, real big hole in the secrecy. Hell, he probably knows more about the real capabilities and relationships than Obama.



  2. DownunderET on April 24, 2014 at 2:40 pm

    It is ANZAC DAY here in Australia, it’s a day of remembering all of the military who gave their lives for their country in all wars. There are military parades in all capitol cities and also at Lone Pine in Turkey where thousands of Australian and New Zealand troops were slaughtered along with thousands of Turkish ground troops.
    All this was instigated by governments, and in reflection, it is governments that cause wars, and then that governments people who take the hit. This world of ours is in decline and has been for a long time, those in power now have short memories, however the people DO NOT. It is high time we told our governments that we do not want any more wars, and I think the “REFUSAL” of bombing Syria was a message from the people of the world, I just hope they keep listening.



  3. henry on April 24, 2014 at 11:40 am

    ““IT forensic experts probing who could be behind the assault have turned up clues that seem to point to China, but Spiegel quoted an unidentifed ‘insider’ as saying they could also simply be ‘camouflage’”

    reminds me of another instance involving “space” where “German-Chinese relations would likely have suffered”
    http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/directly-in-its-path-german-satellite-almost-crashed-into-beijing-a-812297.html

    Interestingly, ROSAT’s failure is also shrouded with allegations of “cyber-attack”, according to certain NASA reports.
    “a series of attacks from Russia that reached computers in the X-ray Astrophysics Section (i.e. ROSAT’s) at Goddard, and took control of computers used for the control of satellites, not just a passive “snooping” attack.”

    Perhaps, this story is somewhat related to other RT stories also involving the alleged suspect.

    “China to boost space defense in ‘new-type combat force’”
    and a recent report by ‘Council on Foreign Relations’
    “​Space terrorism, floating debris pose threats to US”



    • henry on April 24, 2014 at 12:05 pm

      “Parts of the satellite would likely have torn deep craters into the city, may have destroyed buildings and almost certainly would have resulted in human casualties.”

      probably like this scene from the movie “Battleship”
      http://www.aceshowbiz.com/video/download/00027783/



      • henry on April 24, 2014 at 12:15 pm

        forgot to mention, the building destroyed in “Battleship” happens to be “Bank of China”.



  4. marcos toledo on April 24, 2014 at 9:23 am

    So the USSA has decided to steal research plans rather than doing the research themselves. You never go to the poor house underestimating the knavery of our elites. I believe USSA stands for either the United Security States of America or the United Secret States of America.



    • jedi on April 24, 2014 at 12:21 pm

      Stupids has got to be one of them



  5. Lost on April 24, 2014 at 6:46 am

    There’s pressure on the dollar, unlike 1974? Or 1969, or 1960? Huh?

    There’s an easy enough way to make any currency strong, but it involves dropping the burring of things to generate energy, and then keeping those processes secret. The second part is the harder part.



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