The European Commission is investigating a cyberattack after detecting signs that its mobile device management system was compromised.
The European Commission is investigating a cyberattack on its mobile device management platform after detecting intrusion traces. Attackers may have accessed some staff data, including names and phone numbers, but so far they have not compromised any devices.
On 30 January, the European Commission detected a cyberattack on its mobile device management system. The organization pointed out that no mobile devices were compromised. The Commission contained and cleaned the system within nine hours. It continues to monitor security, strengthen cybersecurity, and review the incident to improve protections, reflecting its commitment to safeguarding EU systems amid ongoing cyber threats to critical services and institutions.
“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.” reads the advisory. “The Commission’s swift response ensured the incident was contained and the system cleaned within 9 hours. No compromise of mobile devices was detected.”
The Commission has not revealed how the threat actors accessed the mobile device management platform.
The European Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-EU) is investigating the security breach.
Attackers could use the stolen data to launch targeted vishing and phishing attacks by impersonating colleagues or officials to steal credentials. The stolen data enables reconnaissance for spear phishing or physical targeting of key personnel. Finally, GDPR violations and reputational damage undermine the Union’s cyber credibility.
In April 2021, a European Commission spokesperson confirmed that the organization, along with other European Union organizations, was hit by a cyberattack in March. The authorities did not disclose any details about the type of threats that hit the institutions, or the alleged threat actors behind the attack.
The spokesperson explained that multiple EU institutions, agencies, and IT infrastructure, were impacted by an “IT security incident in their IT infrastructure.”
According to a person familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg, the incident was more severe than the ones that usually hit the EU. An EU official also revealed that the staff was recently warned of ongoing phishing campaign against EU representatives.
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