OMM Newsroom
Members of a German delegation accompanying Chancellor Friedrich Merz on a recent trip to Asia received spyware threat alerts from “Apple”, according to Anadolu Agency, citing a report by German magazine “Der Spiegel” on Monday.
The warnings reportedly reached a broader group, including people who accompanied Merz on visits to Singapore, Japan and South Korea. Staff from federal ministries and journalists also received alerts, the report said.
“Apple” said it was warning potentially affected people in 99 countries, suggesting the suspected spyware campaign was not confined to Germany.
The German government said it was concerned and that authorities were investigating. Government spokesman Stefan Kornelius told journalists in Berlin: “The federal government is taking the incident and the warning very seriously.” He added that devices may have been compromised and that authorities were working to investigate the circumstances and inform and support those affected.
Kornelius declined to say whether Merz was among those targeted. The suspected attack involved a “zero-click” vulnerability, which can allow spyware to infect devices without users clicking malicious links or opening infected files.
Digital Affairs Minister Karsten Wildberger said on Sunday that hackers had targeted devices belonging to lawmakers in the Bundestag, Germany’s lower house of parliament, and government officials. Speaking to public broadcaster “ARD”, he said authorities had received a notification from “Apple” that some devices may have been compromised by spyware. Wildberger said the Federal Office for Information Security, known as BSI, responded quickly and notified those affected in writing.
