The hacking attempts are a significant development underscoring the national security threat European officials face as spyware deployment becomes both increasingly visible and apparently inexorable under current policies on the continent. They also spotlight Europe’s continuing vulnerability to snooping, which human rights and digital freedoms advocates have loudly demanded lawmakers address more aggressively. On Monday, the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported the Apple threat notifications were sent to members of a German delegation of federal ministries’ staffers, lawmakers and journalists traveling with Chancellor Friedrich Merz on a sweep through Asia.
While there Merz met with top officials in South Korea, Japan and Singapore. Many of the victims have not come forward, but on Tuesday morning, Franziska Brantner, co-leader of the Green Party and a member of the parliament’s European Affairs Committee, disclosed she was among the victims, whom Apple said were located in 99 countries.
