Germany's AfD party confirms a September hack of one of its hosting providers after a leak site publishes what it says are 421,179 party emails (281 GB); the party says parts of a few mostly long-unused mailboxes were copied and current federal mailboxes were not affected
A website published what it says are 421,179 emails (281 GB) from Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party on 19 October 2026, along with AI-generated summaries of selected messages attributed to party figures including co-leader Alice Weidel, honorary chairman Alexander Gauland and Leif-Erik Holm, BILD reported that evening. In a limited look at the material, BILD saw a photo of the identity card of Markus Frohnmaier, deputy leader of the AfD group in the Bundestag, other identity documents, invoices, bank statements, certificates, and membership applications and member lists from AfD district branches in North Rhine-Westphalia. An AfD spokesperson confirmed to BILD that in September 2026 a hosting provider used by the party was hacked and parts of a few mailboxes, most of them unused for years, appear to have been unlawfully copied. The party says the attack was stopped quickly, all affected users were informed, current mailboxes of the federal party were not affected, and it is examining the published material. According to B.Z., an internal AfD email to its state branches gives the same account. It is not yet confirmed whether the published files are genuine or whether they all come from the September intrusion. The hosting provider has not been named, and nobody has publicly claimed the attack or been identified. Wire: BILD (19 Oct); B.Z. (19 Oct).
- Product
- Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party email (mailboxes at a third-party hosting provider)
- Versions
- n/a — incident (hosting-provider intrusion September 2026; data published 19 Oct 2026)
- Exploited in Australia?
- unknown
- Patch to
- Political parties, unions and member organisations: close or archive dormant mailboxes held by hosting providers, not just active ones; keep identity documents and member lists out of email; require MFA and breach notification terms from email and web hosts; and plan for leaks being mixed with altered or AI-summarised content.
Primary: BILD — AfD: Offenbar 421.179 Mails nach Hackerangriff im Netz (19 Oct 2026; includes AfD spokesperson statement) · B.Z. — Nach Hackerangriff: AfD-Daten im Netz – was die Partei jetzt einräumt (19 Oct 2026; internal AfD email to state branches)