New | Chinese spy agencies tried to hack German government e-mails before G20 summit: report
Senior civil servants and Merkel’s office received malware ahead of high-level talks
Senior members of several federal ministries and banks received malware-infected e-mails ahead of the G20 summit in Saint Petersburg in September last year, the report said.
An unnamed government spokesperson confirmed to the newspaper that hackers attempted to “compromise the Chancellery’s information security”, referring to the office of the Germany’s head of government, Angela Merkel.
The malware was programmed to send information to China, Der Spiegel said, citing conclusions reached by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the counter-intelligence agency of Europe’s largest economy.
The report did not say which ministries and banks were targeted. The e-mails allegedly imitated a conversation among senior civil servants preparing for the international summit.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not comment on the report in its routine press conference on Monday. It has in the past vehemently denied similar reports.
