A Major Scandal

In January 2019, a massive data breach affected nearly 1,000 German politicians, including Chancellor Angela Merkel. Private documents, phone numbers, professional emails, and banking details were published online. The Bild newspaper reported that hundreds of thousands of personal documents and data were shared via an anonymous Twitter account between December 1 and 28, 2018. Though the account was suspended, links to download the data continue to circulate on online forums.

The attack affected representatives of all major German political parties, except for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Investigations suggest far-right extremists may be behind the breach, though there are also speculations about Russian involvement, especially with upcoming elections in Germany and the European Parliament. The BSI (Federal Office for Information Security) faces criticism for not taking preventive measures after receiving alerts in December. This incident highlights security flaws in private messaging systems, including Outlook, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. The leak raises crucial questions about vulnerabilities in messaging services and the lack of protection for personal data among political leaders.

Source : ICTjournal