German Federal Police Hacked As a Result of a Family Feud

It may be hard to believe, but a hacking operation that targeted the computer networks of Germany’s federal police, last summer, began after an officer wanted to spy on his daughter.

The Local reports that an officer placed a Trojan on his daughter’s computer to monitor her Internet activity. A hacker, friends with the girl, discovered the spy software and as a form of revenge hacked into the man’s computer.

Since the officer forwarded all his work-related emails to his home computer, soon enough the hacker gained access to a lot of sensitive information that later gave him access to the PATRAS systems, used by authorities to monitor suspects and their vehicles.

After the breach - identified as coming from Russia - was discovered, the PATRAS server had to be shut down and the tracking operations were temporarily suspended.

A 23-year old was arrested last summer for the hacking operation, but another hacking group, called the No Name Crew, was also suspected of breaching the servers. It’s unknown if the cases are related.