Berlin (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – German MEP Daniel Freund, a vocal critic of Hungary, narrowly avoided spyware, suspecting Hungarian involvement just before the European elections in June.
MEP Daniel Freund expressed it seems “most likely” that Hungary was behind the thwarted surveillance attempt. One of Hungary’s most straightforward critics in the EU Parliament said he was struck by spyware, just two weeks before the European elections in June.
Why does Freund suspect Hungary’s involvement?
German Green lawmaker Daniel Freund stated he narrowly averted a cyberattack via his Parliament email. “I would have been under complete surveillance. My phone goes pretty much everywhere I go, and they would have been able to trace, listen, to follow anything I do. I’m not saying it was Hungary, but out of the possibilities, this is what seems most likely,” he stated.
Freund conducted a push to discontinue Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the EU for a six-month stint that started in July. EU commissioners and some government ministers are now boycotting some conferences organized by Hungary after Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s recent trips to Russia and China.
He isn’t the first member of the European Parliament to be struck by spyware in recent months. In February, MEPs Nathalie Loiseau and Elena Yoncheva both components of the security subcommittee at the time had spyware caught on their devices. Parliament was on heightened alert for cyberattacks and foreign interference in the run-up to the EU election in June.
How was the spyware attack on Freund detected?
Freund stated he received a May 27 email seemingly from a female student at Kyiv International University on a seminar about Ukraine’s prospects of joining the EU. She requested Freund to “write a short message” to be communicated with students and included a link. Clicking on it would have revealed Freund to the spyware.
Parliament cautioned Freund that the link contained spyware likely driven by the Israeli company Candiru, according to an email from a Parliament official. Candiru was banned by the U.S. government in 2021 for human rights violations.
