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Cyberattack on senior German officials, suspicions of Russian involvement! How hackers managed to penetrate "Signal"
2026-04-26 23:42:20 / BOTA
An issue related to cyberattacks on the mobile phones of senior state officials, including the president of the Bundestag, ministers and MPs, has taken on serious proportions in Germany.
German intelligence services are investigating the possibility of Russian involvement in a cyberattack on the mobile phone of the speaker of the Bundestag, Julia Klöckner, from the Christian Democrats. According to media reports, her account on the encrypted messaging app Signal was compromised through a targeted phishing attack.
The case is considered particularly sensitive, as Klöckner is suspected of communicating with CDU leaders and Chancellor Friedrich Merz through Signal. For his part, the government's deputy spokesman, Sebastian Hille, stated at a press conference that the German government does not make public the means of communication between its members.
According to Der Spiegel magazine and the German news agency DPA, in addition to the speaker of parliament, Education Minister Karin Prien (CDU) and Infrastructure Minister Verena Hubertz (SPD) are also suspected of having fallen victim to similar cyberattacks.
Spokespersons for the relevant ministries declined to comment on these reports, following a request from public broadcaster ARD. Meanwhile, media sources also speak of attacks on the mobile phones of MPs from the Social Democrats and the Left Party.
Parliamentary conversations on Signal unprotected
According to ARD, the perpetrators of the attacks posed as part of Signal's technical support team, asking potential victims for their PIN code. Once the victims responded, the attackers gained access to messages, documents and photos shared on the app.
Meanwhile, the Federal Office for Communications Security, which belongs to the German Ministry of the Interior, has published on its website instructions for identifying whether someone has fallen victim to Signal wiretapping and what to avoid.
According to the portal tagesschau.de, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has sent a letter to parliamentary groups, stating that "there is a possibility that messages exchanged via Signal within parliament are currently readable by the perpetrators of cyberattacks."
The German government is believed to share the assessment that Russia is behind these attacks. Identified victims have been informed of the data leak and have deactivated the compromised devices. In parallel, similar warnings have been distributed to employees of German public media.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office, which is investigating the case, had warned in February about a widespread cyber espionage campaign targeting politicians, the military, and journalists, with indications pointing to Moscow as the coordinator of these illegal activities.
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