Merkel’s Computer Used to Spread Virus in Cyberattack on German Parliament

The computer of German Chancellor Angela Merkel was used to spread Trojan malware during a cyberattack on the German parliament (Bundestag), Bild am Sonntag reports.

BERLIN (Sputnik) – German Bundestag’s internal computer network was hacked in May. It was unclear whether the cybercriminals, which some reports said were Russian, obtained any classified information as a result of the breach.

Bild am Sonntag said on Sunday that Merkel’s computer was one of the first attacked by the hackers, who accessed the system using Trojan malware. The chancellor’s name was then used to spread the virus to other computers through a fake invitation to a conference. A link in the letter would activate the Trojan virus.

None of the sources close to Merkel could say whether the hackers stole any data from the chancellor’s computer, the German newspaper said.

Merkel was at the center of a spying scandal in 2013, when former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden revealed that the US National Security Agency (NSA) tapped the chancellor’s phone and eavesdropped on millions of Germans using a listening post in Bavaria.

A man types on a computer keyboard

© REUTERS / Kacper Pempel/Files