Dramatic revelations shed fresh light on investigation into whether Chinese tech firm tried to buy influence in EU politics.
Belgian security agents bugged a corporate box at the RSC Anderlecht football stadium that was being used by Chinese tech giant Huawei to schmooze members of the European Parliament.
They also listened into other conversations involving one of Huawei’s leading lobbyists, including in his car. The surveillance operations, confirmed by three people with close knowledge of the investigation, formed part of a wide-ranging probe into allegations of corruption that was first revealed in March. They contributed to the Belgian prosecutor’s decision, reported by POLITICO on Monday, to request that a group of MEPs have their immunities lifted so they can be investigated.
The extraordinary revelations are the latest chapter in a saga that combines concerns about the reach of China in European politics and how susceptible EU lawmakers are to bribery and shady lobbying practices, even after a string of similar scandals.
Hannah Neumann was targeted in a cyber-espionage operation by an infamous Iranian hacking group earlier this year, she said.
A prominent European Parliament member was the victim of what is believed to be a cyber-espionage operation tied to her role as chair of the chamber's Iran delegation, she told POLITICO.
The office of Hannah Neumann, a member of the German Greens and head of the delegation spearheading work on European Union-Iran relations, was targeted by a hacking campaign that started in January, she said. Her staff was contacted with messages, phone calls and emails by hackers impersonating a legitimate contact. They eventually managed to target a laptop with malicious software.
"It was a very sophisticated attempt using various ways to manage that someone accidentally opens a link, including putting personal pressure on them," Neumann said.
A spate of devastating attacks on the health care sector prompts Brussels to ramp up funding and threat intelligence.
Officials from EU anti-fraud office were allegedly followed, wiretapped and had their laptops hacked by Hungary’s intelligence agency.
Les services de l’Assemblée nationale ont alerté l’ensemble des députés après le piratage.
The president and former prime minister were among targets of hackers selling highly sensitive data.
Italian probe reveals “gigantic and alarming market of confidential data,” prosecutors say.
Devices are kept in vault during weekly gatherings, prime minister said.
Arrest warrants for Pavel and Nikolai Durov were issued months earlier than previously known.
The campaign suggested Iran was to blame. POLITICO has not independently verified the identity of the hacker or their motivation.
One day at the dawn of the 1980s, an FBI agent in his 30s named Rick Smith walked into the Balboa Café, an ornate, historic watering hole in San Francisco’s leafy Cow Hollow neighborhood. Smith, who was single at the time, lived nearby and regularly frequented the spot.
As he approached the oak wood bar to order a drink he suddenly spotted a familiar face — someone Smith had met about a year before, after the man had walked into the Soviet Consulate in San Francisco. He was Austrian by birth, but a denizen of Silicon Valley, an entrepreneur who operated as a middleman between American tech companies and European countries hungry for the latest hi-tech goods.
A senior official previously condemned the platform for ‘censoring’ Hamas-related content.
The attack comes a few days after a coordinated arson assault on the French rail network.
Intelligence officials suspect Wirecard COO Jan Marsalek of colluding with the far-right Freedom Party on Moscow’s behalf.
Hackers linked to Beijing’s security services targeted European politicians to gather sensitive data.
Disappearance of sensitive files of top law enforcement officials has sparked a crisis at Europol.
G7 is drafting a workaround to use frozen assets to rebuild Ukraine.
New AI-generated digital replicas of real experts expose an unnerving policy gray zone. Washington wants to fix it, but it’s not clear how.
A recent Chinese-linked hack of U.S. government emails detected in June may have gone unnoticed for much longer were it not for an enterprising government IT analyst.
A State Department cybersecurity expert spearheaded an effort to implant a custom warning mechanism into the agency’s network more than two years ago in anticipation of future hacks, the officials said, shedding new light on how they spotted the breach, top State Department officials told POLITICO.
The bureau is trying to take the fight to foreign ransomware gangs, even if it means giving up on bringing some of them behind bars.
