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German officials on Tuesday called for a probe into allegations made by a hacking group that the government has used malware to spy on its citizens, according to media reports.
The Chaos Computer Club (CCC) over the weekend said it obtained some of the software and said it was used by German police. The program, the group said, is full of bugs and can be used to control a person’s microphone, camera, and be used to transfer files onto a person’s computer.
A number of politicians have called on the government to be accountable if there are any instances where the program is being used by law enforcement officials.
Deutsche Welle reported that the German state of Bavaria has confirmed using the software, and Baden-Wurttemberg, Brandenburg, and Lower Saxony, confirmed they were using some kind of spyware.
News of the malware, called the Federal Trojan, prompted the country’s justice minister to call for an investigation into its use, reported the BBC.Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said, “Trying to play down or trivialize the matter won’t do,” according to the BBC. “The citizen, in both the public and private spheres, must be protected from snooping through strict state control mechanisms.”
