Germany accuses Russia of focusing on prime politicians in Signal phishing assault | EUROtoday

Germany suspects Russia is liable for a collection of phishing assaults on Signal, which focused high-ranking politicians, together with two authorities ministers, army personnel, and journalists, a authorities spokesperson has revealed.

Federal prosecutors initiated a preliminary investigation into alleged cyberattacks on Signal accounts in mid-February 2026, a spokesperson for the federal prosecutors confirmed on Saturday.

The inquiry consists of an preliminary suspicion of espionage, although no particular nation has been named by the prosecutors.

While the German authorities has not formally attributed the assaults to Moscow, Western officers be aware elevated Russian-linked cyber exercise throughout Europe for the reason that February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

German journal The mirrorciting governmental sources, reported that round 300 Signal accounts belonging to political figures had been compromised within the incidents.

There is not any official affirmation of the names of the victims.

According to The mirrorthe focused customers obtained messages from a faux Signal safety chatbot that knowledgeable them of suspicious exercise on their accounts and requested them to take fast motion.

If the consumer adopted the directions, together with coming into a PIN or scanning a QR code, their Signal accounts had been linked to an exterior gadget managed by the hackers.

This allowed the attackers to learn previous chats, observe ongoing conversations and even see tackle books and different knowledge saved by the customers.

In February, Germany’s home intelligence service BfV and the federal cybersecurity authority BSI had issued a public warning about such a phishing marketing campaign, saying it was “likely being carried out by a state-controlled cyber actor.”

According to the German press company dpaGerman authorities additionally contacted a number of politicians personally to warn them such assaults might have occurred.

In March, Dutch intelligence and safety providers additionally warned that “Russian state hackers are engaged in a large-scale global cyber campaign to gain access to Signal and WhatsApp accounts belonging to dignitaries, military personnel and civil servants.”

Targets embrace Dutch authorities staff, the Dutch authorities warned on the time, and journalists may have been focused.

The Russian embassy in Berlin didn’t reply to an AP request for remark. Moscow has repeatedly ​denied ⁠it’s spying on different international locations.

Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, the German ambassador to Russia, was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday morning, dpa reported, relating to alleged contacts between German politicians and terrorist organisations.

No connection has been made between the summons and the German media revelations concerning the Signal phishing assaults.

“I will, of course, comply with the summons. I consider it unlikely that the Russian side will be able to substantiate its accusations,” Lambsdorff stated prematurely. Relations between the 2 international locations have been tense for years.