A man has been arrested by German police investigating the release of private data belonging to hundreds of politicians in the country.

A team led by the prosecutor's office in Frankfurt arrested the 20-year-old and searched his apartment on Sunday, according to a statement released today.

The federal police stated they would offer more information during a press conference to be held this afternoon.

Hundreds of politicians in Germany, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, had their data stolen and posted online via a Twitter account before Christmas.

Although the data didn't appear to contain any politically sensitive information, personal details such as phone numbers, home addresses and financial data were released.

According to the German newspaper Bild, which has retained copies of the leaked data, the whole of the German cabinet is affected.

Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is included in the breach, which also contains private party emails and business letters.

It affected all of the political parties represented in parliament, except for the far-right Alternative for Germany party, investigators have confirmed.

In 2017, an attack on the computer systems of the Reichstag led to "a significant drain of data" according to the German police.

Source: SkyNews

BDST: 1712 HRS, JAN 8, 2019
SI