Criminals gained access to the personal phone of French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, according to Mediapart.
Preliminary information suggests that the unknown attackers hacked Barrot’s phone when he opened a malicious link in the secure messaging app Signal. Mediapart sources speculate that the criminals may have intended to impersonate the French foreign minister.
The hack became known after Bahrain’s foreign minister received a “suspicious message” from Barrot and reported it to French authorities. Soon after, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs took the phone for inspection. A preliminary analysis conducted by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs found no spyware or pirated software on Barrot’s device.
In 2021, several French ministers and President Emmanuel Macron were targeted by attacks using the Pegasus spyware. Recently, there have also been reports of hacks into the Telegram accounts of several members of the French parliament.
