Number 2 in the German state, the victim of hackers on one of the most used messaging applications
The European Commission has recommended that its officials use one of the most popular messaging applications only for communication outside of their professional activity as early as 2020.
Cybercriminals hacked the Signal app on the phone of the president of the Bundestag (Berlin Parliament), Julia Klöckner, the second highest official in the German state, Der Spiegel reported on Wednesday.
The German magazine reported that Julia Klöckner was among the victims of a recent phishing attack on messaging app Signal, amid a wider wave of attacks on European politicians in recent months.
According to the German publication, Klöckner was part of a Signal chat group that included other members of the Christian Democratic Union's executive board (CDUFriedrich Merz is also part of this group on Signal, although German intelligence has not found evidence that the German chancellor's phone was compromised. Der Spiegel also reported that at least one other CDU parliamentarian was a victim of the cyberattack.
The European Commission has recommended, as early as 2020, that EU officials use the Signal application only for communication that is not related to professional activity, notes Politico.
In early April, European cyber security and intelligence agencies warned of a phishing campaign in which hackers in Russia posed as a fake Signal support chatbot to trick users into revealing their PINs. Germany's domestic intelligence service issued a similar warning in February.
Politico mentions that it reached out to both the CDU and the Bundestag to get views. The German parliament's administration declined to comment, saying it does not generally provide information on security-critical infrastructure.
