Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has confirmed that hackers targeted an email service provider used by the party in September 2026, following reports that more than 421,000 emails had been stolen and potentially exposed online.
The reported breach involved accounts associated with senior party figures, although the authenticity of the published material and the full extent of the compromise remain unverified.
German newspaper Bild reported that approximately 421,179 emails were allegedly obtained during the attack, including communications linked to party co-leader Alice Weidel and former leader Alexander Gauland.
Unknown individuals claimed to have extracted information from 10 email accounts, including one previously used as a contact address for the party's federal headquarters.
According to Bild, material allegedly exposed included photographs of party members' identity cards, bank statements, membership applications and membership lists from local AfD branches.
A website subsequently published purported summaries of some emails without releasing the original messages.
The AfD confirmed that its hosting provider had experienced an intrusion affecting a limited number of accounts, most of which had reportedly remained inactive for years.
Current email accounts belonging to the party's federal association were reportedly unaffected.
The AfD said the intrusion was detected and stopped quickly, with affected users subsequently informed.
Party officials are examining the information published online to determine its connection to the compromised accounts.
The identities and motives of those responsible remain unknown, while uncertainty persists over whether additional information was accessed or stolen.
The incident comes amid significant electoral gains for the anti-immigration, Russia-friendly party, which currently leads national opinion polls.
The AfD finished first in two state elections last month, outperforming Chancellor Friedrich Merz's centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Its strongest result came in Saxony-Anhalt, where the party hopes to establish Germany's first far-right state government since World War II.
The cyberattack adds a data-security concern as the party seeks to translate its electoral momentum into political power.