AfD confirms breach after 421,000 party emails leak online
Germany's far-right party said an outside hosting provider was hacked last month, after about 421,000 internal emails surfaced on the internet.
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Germany's far-right Alternative fur Deutschland has acknowledged a data breach after roughly 421,000 of its internal emails turned up online, the party told news agency AFP.
A party spokesperson separately confirmed the breach to the newspaper Die Zeit, saying the attack had taken place in September 2026 and involved the unlawful copying of parts of several email accounts.
According to German tabloid Bild, the material traces back to ten mailboxes, two of them tied to senior figures: former party chief Alexander Gauland and a general contact address once used by the AfD's federal office. A separate website posted digests of some messages rather than the originals, Euronews reported.
Bild said the files circulating online also contain scans of identity documents, financial statements, and paperwork from local chapters, including membership rolls. It is not yet clear whether all of the published messages are genuine, or whether the volume of data claimed by whoever posted it matches reality.
An AfD spokesperson told AFP that the party's hosting contractor, not its own servers, had been compromised, and that the mailboxes involved had largely sat unused for years before the break-in. The party said it caught the intrusion fast, shut it down, and alerted everyone whose account was touched.
Current mailboxes belonging to the party's federal leadership were not among those hit, officials said, and a review of exactly what has leaked is still under way. No one has yet been identified as responsible, nor is it known whether more material could surface, Euronews reported.
The AfD is currently ahead in national polling and swept two regional elections last month, outperforming Chancellor Friedrich Merz's CDU by a wide margin. Its strongest showing came in Saxony-Anhalt, where the party is seeking to form Germany's first far-right state government since the Second World War.
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What we know
- 2+ outlets · Mediafax, G4Media +3 Hackers stole around 421,000 emails from Germany's AfD party in a breach the party says happened in September 2026.
- 1 outlet · Bild Messages tied to former party chief Alexander Gauland and the party's old federal contact address were among those taken, Bild reported.
- 2+ outlets · Mediafax, G4Media Published material reportedly included ID document scans, bank statements and local branch membership lists.
- Official · AfD The AfD said current federal leadership mailboxes were unaffected and that the breach was detected and stopped quickly, with every affected user informed.
Not yet confirmed
- Unconfirmed The authenticity and full extent of the leaked data have not been independently confirmed.
- Unconfirmed It remains unclear who was responsible for the attack.
How each fact is established: Verified checked by an ECTV editorOfficial stated by an official body2+ outlets reported independently by two or more news organisations1 outlet reported by a single news organisation so farUnconfirmed claimed or reportedHow we label facts
Why it matters for Europe
The breach exposes a major European political party's internal data at a time when the anti-immigration, Russia-friendly AfD is leading national polls, raising questions about how political organisations handle sensitive membership and financial records held by outside hosting contractors. The party said the affected mailboxes had mostly been dormant for years, which may limit how much current, sensitive material was exposed.
Sources
Reported by 8 reports from 8 independent outlets in 6 countries.
- Mediafax: Atac cibernetic asupra AfD: aproximativ 421.000 de e-mailuri ar fi fost publicate online
- G4Media: Partidul de extremă dreapta AfD din Germania, vizat de un atac cibernetic / Aproximativ 421.000 de e-mailuri ale formațiuni politice ar fi fost publicate online
- Telegrafi: Partia e djathtë gjermane AfD goditet nga një sulm i madh kibernetik
- ABC News Albania: Partia e djathtë gjermane AfD goditet nga një sulm i madh kibernetik
- Euronews: Hackers steal 421,000 emails belonging to members of Germany's far-right AfD party
Source balance
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Questions and answers
- How many emails were taken?
- Around 421,000 emails were reportedly stolen from AfD accounts, Bild reported.
- When did the attack happen?
- The party said the breach occurred in September 2026.
- Who was affected?
- Messages from party co-leader Alice Weidel and co-founder Alexander Gauland were reportedly among those taken, along with members' personal data.
This article was written with AI assistance from 8 verified reports and checked under the ECTV editorial policy. Spotted an error? Request a correction.