Addresses of German MPs leaked online by hackers

THE personal data of around 1,000 German politicians was posted online after it was apparently stolen by hackers.

It included mobile phone numbers, addresses, internal party documents and, in some cases, bills and credit card details. Some of the information was years old.

Martina Fietz, a spokesman for chancellor Angela Merkel, said politicians at all levels appeared to have been affected, including those in the European, German and state parliaments and in local councils.

‘The German government takes this incident very seriously,’ she said. ‘As regards the chancellery, it appears at first sight that no sensitive information and data are included in what was published, including regarding the chancellor.’

She added that the government’s cyberdefence centre was investigating.

Earlier, the German news agency dpa reported that the information included a fax number and email address belonging to Mrs Merkel and several letters to and from the chancellor.

The Twitter account that released the information was still online early yesterday with about 17,000 followers but had been suspended by lunchtime. It had been active since mid-2017.

The links it posted suggested that information on politicians from all parties in parliament except the far-right Alternative for Germany had been shared in daily batches before Christmas. However, interior ministry spokesman Soeren Schmidt said it appeared that all parties in parliament had been affected.

Arne Schoenbohm, the head of Germany’s IT security agency, said the agency believes data on about 1,000 people was involved.