Riot among members of the German Bundestag. A number of them want the federal IT security office, the BSI, to be reorganised as soon as possible. That is what the Members of Parliament want because, at the end of December, the private data of hundreds of German politicians were placed online.
The weekly Der Spiegel reports that the workers’ party, SPD, of Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer has asked for his responsibility. The party members want to know which authorities were aware of the hack and what they subsequently did with it.
Careless process
At the end of December, the private data of hundreds of German politicians, as well as various other celebrities, were placed online. It also includes YouTubers, employees of media organisations and various journalists. In response to reports about this, the BSI stated that it had already spoken to parliamentarians at the beginning of December, but this seemed unlikely. The office of Chancellor Angela Merkel and also the German BKA were only informed at the end of December.
That is why several Members of Parliament are now seeking clarification from Minister Seehofer. After all, the BSI is responsible for protecting the personal data of members of parliament and has failed to do so properly. Bundestag Vice-President Thomas Opperman therefore calls for a review of the functioning of the BSI. He finds it scandalous that the private data could be placed on the internet for days on end and that the victims were not informed by the BSI.
Private data shared
In December 2018, a hacker was active who put private data of various German celebrities, but also YouTube stars and journalists online. Just before Christmas, more cases were published online, including the home addresses, e-mail addresses and also the telephone numbers of members of parliament.
Who exactly is behind the hack is not yet clear. The motives of the hacker involved are not yet clear either. The German security services are currently investigating this.
This news article was automatically translated from Dutch to give Techzine.eu a head start. All news articles after September 1, 2019 are written in native English and NOT translated. All our background stories are written in native English as well. For more information read our launch article.
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