He did not fall into the trap. However, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, became the target of hackers who managed to steal the identity of Angela Merkel. Using what appears to be the real phone number of the former German chancellor, the hackers contacted the former IMF president via SMS. They asked to start an exchange between them via WhatsApp instant messages so that Christine Lagarde could share her authentication codes. The message mentions computer problems.
The goal was to take over his email account to gather information and use his identity to contact other public figures. According to the ECB spokesperson. “The attack was quickly spotted and stopped. No data was stolen.”
Out of distrust, the ECB President preferred to call Angela Merkel to ask her if she really wanted to communicate through this channel. That’s how he learned about the cyber attack attempt. This incident follows a wave of similar attacks on WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram, which has been raging for several days. “Hackers specifically exploit the relationship of trust between two high-ranking politicians”., says the letter of the German authorities to the parliament. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has launched an investigation to understand how criminals could steal the former chancellor’s number.
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Source: Le Figaro
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.