Cyberattack: Bundestag police warn factions about dangerous USB sticks

The Bundestag is once again facing a security-related incident: During the week, mailings with an English-language cover letter and a USB stick were received at the offices of several parliamentary factions. The Bundestag police reacted immediately and strongly warned the parliamentary factions against connecting these devices to computers. This is according to an internal email from the CDU executive, which Die Welt reports on. Other factions have also confirmed receiving such data carriers.

The police requested according to the report that the sticks be sent in a "separate envelope". A spokesperson for the CDU faction explained to Die Welt that it is not known whether representatives or employees from their own ranks had inserted the data carrier into their computers. Instead, the feedback was "that it was either destroyed or sent in accordance with instructions." The AfD faction also reported that "various members of the AfD faction received a letter with a corresponding USB stick" and that these had been handed over to the Bundestag police in the "known cases".

While the exact contents of the current packages remained unclear at first, the Bundestag administration has not yet commented on them. The Left Party faction, according to its parliamentary group leader, Ina Latendorf, seems to have been spared so far. At least, there were no indications in her office by Friday afternoon that the faction would be affected. The Greens also issued a preliminary clearance.

Reminders of the "Bundestag Hack"

Regardless of this, the precautionary measure by the Bundestag police and the immediate sensitization of parliamentarians signal the increased attention and lessons learned from the past. Social engineering and phishing attempts, in which physical media such as USB sticks can serve as an entry point for malware, are considered classic IT attack methods.

The incident is reminiscent of previous serious cyberattacks that affected the German parliament and high-ranking politicians, highlighting the ongoing threat from state-controlled or criminal actors. The best-known attack was the so-called Bundestag hack of 2015, in which allegedly Russian cybercriminals from the APT28 group ("Fancy Bear") stole over 16 gigabytes of data, including emails from members of parliament, and massively compromised the Bundestag's IT systems. Even the parliamentary office of then-Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) was impacted.

Another symbolically significant incident was the cyberattack on Merkel's mobile phone in 2013, which exposed the vulnerability of even the highest political levels. Such occurrences showed that the Bundestag remains a "coveted target" for attacks, as indirectly expressed by the security officer of the SPD faction, Marja-Lisa Völlers. She told Die Welt: "The incident certainly concerns us; all members of parliament and faction staff have been informed and sensitized. All further details will be revealed by the investigations initiated by the Bundestag administration." Völlers did not disclose whether Social Democrats were affected this time.

(axk)