Von der Leyen’s campaign website hit by cyberattack

Cyber attackers targeted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s electoral website using bots, she said Tuesday evening.

“My campaign website ursula2024.eu was attacked by bots,” she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Stressing that “cyber attacks will not deter us,” von der Leyen added that she stands “for a strong Europe that can defend itself – no matter where.”

In December 2023, the European Parliament’s IT department warned that state-sponsored attacks on the Parliament are becoming more frequent and more sophisticated since its last election in 2019.

As 400 million EU citizens prepare to cast their votes in June’s European election, a new poll shows that the German conservative has caught voters’ attention like no EU chief before her. An overwhelming majority of 75 per cent of European respondents are able to correctly identify her — much higher than former commission chiefs — putting her at an advantage.