Telegram accounts of French MPs hacked – POLITICO

National Rally lawmaker Laure Lavalette confirmed she was a victim of the attack. Another lawmaker told POLITICO that lawmakers from across the political spectrum were targeted. That lawmaker said he saw many of his colleagues “queuing up” Wednesday outside the National Assembly’s digital counter, an office responsible for advising elected officials on best practices when it comes to technology and information security .

All lawmakers have been advised to change their passwords and enable two-factor authentication on Telegram.

The encrypted messaging app has long been popular in French political services, but government officials began rejecting Telegram since the arrest of its founder, Pavel Durov, in France in August.

Before news of the hack broke, the French Prime Minister’s office recommended that ministers stop using Telegram and instead opt for Tchap, an encrypted messaging app built in-house by the French government, or Olvid, a French option that offers end-to-end encryption.

Marion Solletty, Sarah Paillou, Jason Wiels and Alexandre Léchenet contributed to this report. This article was first published by POLITICO in French and edited in English by Joshua Berlinger.