Several German Bundestag members were reported as targets of espionage attacks involving Apple devices, according to reporting by Handelsblatt and 9to5Mac. Handelsblatt said attackers might have been able to read confidential messages on Apple phones used by lawmakers, but the report did not establish that any messages were actually accessed.
9to5Mac reported that Apple sent threat notifications to users in 99 countries over potential mercenary spyware attacks. Its account said German lawmakers and government officials began receiving notifications, prompting the Federal Office for Information Security to issue an urgent warning. The agency reportedly advised recipients to assume that their devices were no longer secure.
The same report described the suspected method as a possible zero-click attack, meaning the target might not have needed to interact with a message or link for a device to be compromised. 9to5Mac also reported that knowledge of a target’s phone number may have been sufficient for the attack, while stressing that Apple does not confirm whether a notified device was compromised.
German authorities were described by 9to5Mac as investigating reports that lawmakers and government officials may have been targeted. The German government reportedly said it was taking both the incident and Apple’s warning very seriously and was investigating the circumstances, adding an official response to the security concerns raised by the notifications.
The reports do not identify the spyware or those responsible, and they do not name the German recipients or establish how many received alerts. Apple has not disclosed who may have been behind the attacks, while the available reporting does not establish whether any device was successfully compromised or whether communications were accessed. Those unanswered questions leave the significance of the warnings unresolved even as the reported targets include elected representatives and government officials.