The KGB, the Computer, and Me

In 1985 I was setting up our new email system at CERN, and the email system had a security flaw that allowed the users' mail access passwords to be seen. This in of itself wasn't too big deal as there was little a hacker could do with it (only get access to mail pickup, and you'd need a system that talked X.400, which weren't prevalent). What made it a big security problem, of course, was that users tended to use their login password for their mail password, so once the hackers uncovered the mail password they ipso-facto often got a login password. The hacking was noticed and I was told they were networking in from Germany. Given the commonalities: time proximity (85-86), hacker source (Germany) and hacking targets (HEP/nuclear/research community), I wonder now if it was the same group of hackers.