German security authorities hacked

"The terrifying fact about these attacks is that the delinquents are quite young. If these 17-year-old schoolboys are able to do that, what would happen if a much more experienced hacker would attack" said Lars Sobiraj, editor-in-chief at the German-speaking online magazine gulli who interviewed members of the group this week.

In the interview, members of the group said they regarded their hacking as a wake-up call for the German public to see that the state kept the population under permanent surveillance. The group announced on its website that it will initiate more attacks. "New targets have been chosen," it said.

The attacks came just four weeks after German Federal Secretary of the Interior Hans-Peter Friedrich opened the Cyber Defense Center. The center is run by the BSI, the federal office for the protection of the constitution and the disaster control agency. The authorities whose systems were attacked also contribute to the operation of the center.

A spokesman of the BSI that leads the center against cyberattacks said Thursday that the agency would not comment about the events due to the ongoing investigations.

The center against cyberattacks has been criticized for not having the ability to fight electronic attacks. After its opening in June, Memet Kilic, a member of the Green party that is part of the opposition, said the center did not have enough financial and human resources. According to the BSI, the center has 10 full-time employees.