German Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger has confirmed information from ARD's capital studio about a possible hacker attack on mobile devices used by Bundestag members and federal government members. Speaking in the program Bericht aus Berlin, the CDU politician said the matter involved a notification from US technology company Apple that certain devices may have been compromised with so-called spyware. He said the Federal Office for Information Security, or BSI, reacted quickly and informed all affected people in writing. It is currently not publicly known which politicians could be affected.
The BSI letter is available to ARD's capital studio. According to the letter, iPhones have received threat notifications from Apple since October 29 saying that an attack with so-called mercenary spyware had been detected. The BSI wrote that it had no further information at present about the concrete occasion or background of the notifications.
Apple describes its threat notifications as very reliable warnings that a person has been specifically targeted. The notification does not indicate whether the attack was successful. The BSI advised affected people to assume as a precaution that the device may be compromised. According to Apple, the company generally does not disclose what triggered a notification and does not attribute attacks to specific attackers.
Wildberger did not give further details in Bericht aus Berlin, but he expressed concern about the reports.
Spyware refers to surveillance programs that send data to third parties without the user's knowledge or consent. The best-known example is Pegasus from NSO Group. Such programs can install themselves without any action by the user. According to the BSI, attackers could gain access to messages, including encrypted messengers, as well as calls, contacts, calendar and location. The microphone and camera could also be switched on.
Sources: Tagesschau.