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Germany’s digital minister, Karsten Wildberger, has confirmed that members of the Bundestag and the federal government received warnings from Apple that their iPhones may have been targeted by spyware.
Speaking on ARD’s Bericht aus Berlin on Sunday, Wildberger said there had been “a notification from Apple that certain devices may have been compromised with so-called spyware”.
According to a letter from the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) seen by Wildberger, the alerts began reaching the affected phones on 29 October. They warned that Apple had detected an attack using “mercenary spyware”.
Wildberger said the BSI had “reacted super quickly” and written to everyone affected about what to do. He did not say how many politicians had received the alerts, or who they were.
According to Wildberger, the BSI advised those affected to assume – as a precaution – that their device may have been compromised, because the alerts do not show whether an attack succeeded.
Euronews has contacted the BSI for comment.
What is an Apple threat notification?
Apple sends threat notifications when it believes that a user has been individually targeted by mercenary spyware, which it describes as “vastly more sophisticated than regular cybercriminal activity”.
Apple says Mercenary spyware is harder to detect and prevent, but the vast majority of users will never be targeted.
The warnings appear on the iPhone’s lock screen and in its settings, and are also sent by email.
According to the BSI, spyware of this kind can give attackers access to messages, including those sent on encrypted apps, as well as to calls, contacts, calendars and location data. It can also switch on a phone’s microphone and camera.
Neither Apple nor the German authorities have said who may be behind the attack.