The German government has issued an urgent warning that iPhones belonging to officials and lawmakers may have been compromised by state-backed spyware. The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) advised anyone who received a recent Apple notification to assume their device is no longer secure. The attack exploited a zero-click vulnerability, meaning no user interaction was required — only knowledge of the target’s phone number.
The spyware, commercially developed and previously used by multiple governments, can access messages, contacts, location, photos, and even activate microphones. While the software remains unnamed, it resembles Pegasus by NSO. German authorities are investigating urgently.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s spokesman confirmed the seriousness of the incident but did not confirm if the chancellor was targeted. No culprit has been identified, but officials believe it is almost certainly state-sponsored. This follows past attacks: in spring, German MP Julia Klöckner and others were targeted via Signal phishing.
Russian-linked groups, including APT 28 (Fancy Bear), have historically targeted German political institutions, including the 2015 parliament hack and 2016 Berlin-Bonn network breach.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing