Hackers Hit European Commission’s Internal Systems, Potentially Accessing Staff Members’ Names and Contact Info

The European Commission is investigating a cybersecurity incident after detecting evidence that internal systems used to manage staff mobile devices were targeted in a cyberattack.

According to the Commission, traces of the attack were identified on January 30 within its central infrastructure managing mobile devices.

The breach may have resulted in unauthorized access to the names and mobile phone numbers of some staff members.

Said the Commission,

“On 30 January, the European Commission’s central infrastructure managing mobile devices identified traces of a cyber-attack, which may have resulted in access to staff names and mobile numbers of some of its staff members.”

The Commission said its response was swift, with the incident contained and affected systems cleaned within nine hours. Officials added that there is no evidence that staff mobile devices themselves were compromised.

The institution said it takes the security and resilience of its internal systems seriously and will continue monitoring the situation. The incident will be fully reviewed and used to inform ongoing efforts to strengthen cybersecurity capabilities.

The Commission said it remains committed to reinforcing the EU’s cybersecurity resilience.

CERT-EU, which serves as the central cybersecurity service for EU institutions and agencies, provides around-the-clock threat monitoring and rapid incident response under the oversight of the Interinstitutional Cybersecurity Board.

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