German government discussions exposed as hackers infiltrate Signal chats — media
Hackers breached Signal used by senior German officials (photo: Getty Images)
More than 100 German officials, including ministers and senior members of the Bundestag leadership, have fallen victim to a large-scale phishing attack carried out via the messaging app Signal, Süddeutsche Zeitung reports.
Hacking operation details
According to the report, the attack lasted for months and used a sophisticated phishing scheme. Users received fake messages that appeared to come from Signal's support team. The messages warned of a "hacking attempt on the account" and instructed recipients to enter a verification code urgently.
Once the code was entered, attackers gained full access to the account.
German security services say this allowed them to read all communications within the app and use victims' contact lists to carry out further attacks.
Investigation findings, victims
The number of victims is currently estimated to be in the triple digits. Those whose accounts were compromised include current federal ministers, Bundestag leadership, former members of parliament, and former heads of security services.
Germany Federal Prosecutor's Office has initiated an official investigation on suspicion of intelligence activity on behalf of a foreign power. While Berlin is still gathering evidence, security agencies are quite confident that Russia is behind the attack.
In addition, the FBI publicly accused Russian intelligence services of involvement in the campaign.
Experts say the consequences of the breach are significant, as Signal was widely regarded as a secure communication channel used by top politicians.
The investigation also found that officials often neglected secure government communication channels and instead used messaging apps on private devices for convenience.
Russian cyberattacks on Western countries
Recently, reports emerged that Russian hackers launched a large-scale operation targeting Signal and WhatsApp. The attackers massively targeted accounts of European politicians, military personnel, and activists in an attempt to access their private correspondence.
Sweden has also stated that Russia has changed its cyberattack tactics, now focusing not only on data theft but also on attempts to cause physical damage to critical infrastructure through digital sabotage.
Similar activity has been observed overseas, where even intelligence chiefs have become targets.
In the United States, authorities have announced multimillion-dollar rewards for information leading to the identification of hackers linked to Iranian and Russian groups, following the reported compromise of FBI Director Kash Patel's personal email account.
