THE Qilin ransomware group claims it stole data from Die Linke, the German political party, and is threatening to release it, a claim Die Linke confirmed while noting no breach of its membership data. The party said it disclosed the cyber incident on March 27, one day after the attack, and took parts of its IT systems offline to limit damage while informing staff, alerting authorities and filing a criminal complaint.
Die Linke’s membership database was not affected, according to a press release published by the German Party, and the party stated that attackers did not succeed in stealing any member data. On 1 April, Qilin announced the attack and added the party to its Tor data leak site, but did not provide samples as proof. Die Linke has about 123,126 members as of the end of 2025, and the party is working with authorities and IT experts to restore systems and resume normal operations.