BERLIN
An aide of Chancellor Angela Merkel has been the victim of a cyber attack using the sophisticated spying software “Regin”, German media has reported.
Bild newspaper reported on Monday that the German Prime Ministry had informed the Parliament’s Parliamentary Control Panel in a meeting before Christmas of the suspected attack, which targeted an aide heading a unit in the European Policy department.
Deputy Government Spokeswoman Christiane Wirtz neither denied nor confirmed the reports at a press conference on Monday, but underlined that the IT system of the German Prime Ministry had never been infected.
She said: “Independent from the report, I can say that the when such incidents occur, the Prime Ministry informs the relevant bodies, including the Parliament’s Parliamentary Control Panel (PKGr)."
- Spy software detected
According to Bild, a USB stick used by Merkel’s aide had been infected by Regin but it was not clear who was behind the move.
A virus-scanning system identified the spying software after the aide returned to work after downloading a draft speech from her office computer so she could work on it from home, the daily reported.
Top secret files leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed earlier in the year that Regin had been developed by U.S. and British secret services and used for gathering intelligence from governments and companies.
German media reported that several modified versions of the software have also been used by other secret services.
- 'Spying not acceptable'
German Chancellor Merkel has previously been targeted by the U.S.' National Security Agency, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported last year.
Relations between the U.S. and Germany suffered significant damage after an examination of top-secret files leaked by Snowden revealed the chancellor was on a list of people targeted by the NSA.
Merkel criticized the U.S. spying program, saying “spying on friends is not acceptable" and called on the U.S. to make steps to rebuild trust between the two allies.
In July, German authorities revealed that an employee of the German secret service and an official from the Defense Ministry had been passing on information and secret documents to the U.S. agency since 2012.
A top CIA official was later told by Berlin to leave the country.
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