Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) said on Tuesday it was investigating the online publication of emails allegedly stolen by hackers during a cyberattack targeting the party last month.
An AfD spokesperson said the attackers had targeted a hosting service provider used by the party and apparently copied data from a small number of email accounts, most of which had not been used for several years.
‘The recent online publication of what is presumably a portion of this data is currently being investigated,’ the spokesperson said, adding that a preliminary assessment would be possible only after the investigation had been completed.
The spokesperson did not disclose the volume of data stolen.
The statement followed a report by German newspaper Bild that more than 420,000 emails linked to the party had been published online. According to the newspaper, the material included correspondence involving AfD co-leader Alice Weidel, as well as bank statements, academic certificates and membership lists.
The website hosting the material was offline by Tuesday afternoon. However, archived versions showed a collection of 281 gigabytes of data published under the headline ‘The party’s own records, unedited’.
The leak comes as the AfD, which has led national opinion polls and made gains in recent state elections, faces renewed calls from some politicians and civil society groups for the party to be banned.
Critics argue that the party poses a threat to Germany’s democratic constitutional order. The AfD rejects the allegations, describing them as politically motivated.
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