02.11.2026 21:01
Germany's Minister for Digital Transformation and State Modernization Karsten Wildberger confirmed that a cyberattack attempt targeting the mobile phones of Bundestag members and federal government members took place.
Germany's Digital Minister Wildberger confirmed an attempted cyberattack targeting the phones of members of the Bundestag and government members. With BSI's notification on October 30, potentially affected persons were informed of security measures; the scale of the attack will become clear through the investigation.
MINISTER CONFIRMED SPYWARE ATTACK
Wildberger made statements on the "Bericht aus Berlin" program after ARD television's capital studio reported on the attack. Stating that, according to information obtained from Apple, some devices may have been compromised with spyware, Wildberger reported that the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) acted quickly on the matter and that people who may have been affected by the attack were informed in writing.
No official statement has yet been made regarding which members of parliament and government members were affected by the attack.
IT IS NOT KNOWN WHETHER THE CHANCELLOR'S PHONE WAS TARGETED
Government Spokesperson Steffen Kornelius emphasized in a statement at the Federal Press Office that the incident and security warnings are taken very seriously by the government. Kornelius stated that the authorities are working intensively to investigate the background of the attack, inform those who may have been affected, and provide them with support, and said that protective measures and security analyses would be improved and that the public would be informed if concrete results were reached.
Kornelius said they could not answer questions at the current stage of the investigation about which government members were affected by the attack or whether Chancellor Friedrich Merz's phone was targeted.
"COMMERCIAL SPYWARE"
Interior Ministry Spokesperson Sonja Kock stated that the attack may have targeted not only politicians but also public figures and private individuals.
Kock reported that Apple sent threat notifications to some people indicating that an attack involving spyware had been detected on their devices, and stated that the software in question is commercial spyware that has also been used in the past to target specific individuals on behalf of state actors.
Kock noted that, according to current assessments, malicious software may have been installed on devices without any user intervention, even without users needing to open a specially crafted message.
Kock, noting that BSI provided information on the matter on October 30 and warned members of the Bundestag against the possible danger, said that affected persons were also informed about the security measures that should be taken.
Kock said that those who receive threat notifications can directly contact BSI for advice and support, and stated that details regarding the scale of the attack have not yet become clear.
Spokesperson for the Ministry for Digital Transformation and State Modernization Bastian Pauly also emphasized that a threat notification sent by Apple does not by itself prove that a security breach definitely occurred on the device.
Pauly said that the notification is based on the detection of "a security breach or a suspicious situation," but whether the attack was successful and its concrete scale will be revealed by ongoing investigations.
SPYWARE CAN PROVIDE ACCESS TO PERSONAL DATA
Spyware is known as "malicious programs that monitor data on devices and transfer it to third parties without users' knowledge and consent."
In this method, called "zero-click" in cybersecurity, users are often unaware that their devices are being targeted.
One of the best-known examples in this field is Pegasus software developed by the Israeli NSO Group.
In some cases, such software can be installed on devices without the user having to perform any action.