Signal hacked in Germany. Russian hackers read private messages of German elites

Members of the German government have fallen victim to an alleged espionage attack via the Signal messenger, the dpa news agency reported on Saturday. This is part of a broader campaign in Germany in which hackers are gaining access to chat content.

According to the findings of “Der Spiegel” magazine, the victims of the Signal hacking campaign include, among others: the head of the Ministry of Construction Verena Hubig, Minister for Family Affairs Karin Prien and the President of the Bundestag Julia Kloeckner. On Saturday, dpa confirmed that members of the federal government were the targets of the alleged espionage attack, but did not provide names.

According to media reports, nothing suspicious was detected on the phone of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Officially, the German government does not comment on specific politicians affected by the attack.

A hacking campaign is being carried out in Germany against politicians, journalists and military personnel, and the authorities suspect that a state entity, probably Russia, is behind it. Security services have contacted many politicians since February to warn them or help determine whether cybercriminals have accessed their accounts.

Current findings indicate that the hacking campaign is ongoing and gaining momentum, dpa warns. Similar attacks are also detected in the UK and the Netherlands.

The hackers' model of operation on Signal is to send a message asking to enter a PIN code, click on a link or scan a QR code. The sender of the message is e.g. “Signal Support”. In this way, you gain access to, among others: to the content of conversations conducted via messenger.

From Berlin Mateusz Obremski (PAP)

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