Germany warns lawmakers they may have been targeted by spyware

Germany’s federal cybersecurity office has warned politicians and other public figures that they may have been targeted by government-backed spyware. The warning came days after Apple began notifying people whose iPhones may have been targeted.

The Federal Office for Information Security, known as the BSI, said it had learned that members of the Bundestag and other unnamed notable individuals received Apple threat notifications. Government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said Berlin was taking the incident and warning “very seriously,” according to the Financial Times. He did not identify the people targeted or say whether Chancellor Friedrich Merz was among them.

Apple sends threat notifications to people it believes may have been targeted by spyware, which can steal messages, location data and other sensitive information. Such attacks can use zero-click exploits that do not require a recipient to open a link or file. Apple does not identify the government behind an attack or confirm whether a device was compromised. The BSI said recipients should assume their device may have been compromised.

Filmmaker Radwan Mortada, based in Beirut, said on X that he received a new alert saying Apple had detected “another attack against your device.” He had been targeted in a spyware attack in 2021. Apple’s notice said the latest notifications went to users in 99 countries. It remains unclear who is behind the attacks or which government, if any, directed them.

Governments often obtain spyware from private vendors. Israel’s NSO Group, maker of Pegasus, is among the best known. Germany’s federal criminal police office, the BKA, reportedly bought access to Pegasus in 2019.