Qilin confirms cyberattack on German political party Die Linke, threatens data leak
Ransomware extortion group Qilin has claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on Die Linke. It threatens to publish the stolen data if the German democratic socialist political party doesn’t pay a ransom.
Soeren Pellmann, leader of the Die Linke's parliamentary group. Lilli Forter/picture alliance/Getty.
Ransomware extortion group Qilin has claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on Die Linke. It threatens to publish the stolen data if the German democratic socialist political party doesn’t pay a ransom.
- Ransomware gang Qilin has confirmed it attacked German political party Die Linke and is threatening to leak stolen data.
- The hackers targeted sensitive internal party data and employee personal information, but spared the membership database.
- Qilin was the most prolific ransomware operation in 2025, with over 1,000 attacks including Nissan, Volkswagen, and Asahi.
At the end of March, Die Linke disclosed that it had become the target of a “serious cyberattack.” As soon as the attack came to light, parts of the party’s IT infrastructure were taken offline to prevent further damage.
“Staff members at the Federal Office were immediately informed of the necessary measures. At the same time, security authorities issued a warning. The party immediately filed criminal charges,” Die Linke stated.
The left-wing party assured that the membership database was not affected. Instead, the attackers were after sensitive data from within the party organization, as well as personal information of employees working at the party’s headquarters.
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“The collection and publication of private or personal data serves to intimidate, harass, or publicly discredit those affected. Such attacks aim to weaken democratic structures and their actors. That a democratic party is being targeted does not appear to be a coincidence in this context,” Die Linke added.
The German political party said that Qilin might be responsible for the cyberattack, a claim now confirmed by the ransomware extortion group on its data leak site on the dark web.
The attackers didn’t provide any data samples to prove they’re guilty of the cyberattack or set a deadline for paying the ransom.
According to cybersecurity firm NCC Group, Qilin was the most prolific ransomware operation of 2025, with a total of 1,022 cyberattacks. Among other incidents, the ransomware group stole 27GB of data from Japan’s largest brewer, Asahi. The gang also claimed responsibility for attacks on Nissan, Volkswagen, and Scientology.
Die Linke isn’t the first political party from Germany that’s been struck by a cyberattack. In 2024, cybersecurity firm Mandiant uncovered a malicious campaign against the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the country’s leading opposition party. The same year, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) was also targeted by hackers.
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