The Bundestag President's account was hacked in a phishing attack on Signal

German Parliament President Julia Klöckner fell victim to a large-scale phishing attack, as a result of which the attackers gained access to her Signal account. 

Spiegel reported this, noting that Russian intelligence services are behind this campaign, which has been ongoing for several months. The incident is considered extremely serious, as Kleckner is a member of the CDU executive committee and participates in closed group chats that include Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) has already informed the chancellor of the situation and warned the leaders of parliamentary factions about the high risks. At least 300 victims of similar attacks have been identified in Germany’s political circles. Intelligence agencies suspect that by hacking individual accounts, attackers may be secretly reading the correspondence of numerous working groups in the Bundestag.

As recently as April 21, the BfV sent out an urgent warning to party bodies, urging them to exercise particular caution when using messaging apps. Since Signal is frequently used by politicians for rapid communication due to its reputation as a secure service, a successful breach of an account at this level poses a significant threat to national security. Cybersecurity experts are currently working to mitigate the consequences of the data breach and protect other government communication channels.

Hackers stole Booking.com user data

Russian hackers compromised over 280 accounts belonging to NATO and Balkan institutions