Attack on France

Colonel: “We have long been in a hybrid war”

France was the target of cyber attacks.(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

France was subjected to one of the biggest cyber attacks in recent history. There are reasons for this. The attack did not come as a surprise to military expert Colonel Markus Reisner.

The war is already raging in the background. There are no tanks marching towards Berlin, Paris or Vienna, but the "hybrid war is already underway", says military expert Markus Reisner. This is what happened in France earlier this week. Several ministries and state institutions in France were hit by a large-scale cyberattack of "unprecedented intensity", according to the Élysée Palace. The crisis unit has been activated to take countermeasures. A Russian hacker group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Alarm bells were ringing at the Élysée Palace, the French seat of government(Bild: rik Lattwein / dpa Picture Alliance / picturedesk.com)

"Targeted attacks like this happen in the background all the time," says Reisner, "but most of them go unnoticed by us." How does "hybrid warfare" work?