A leak in Cisco Webex allowed a German journalist to listen in on conversations between government employees. The leak was not actively exploited.

The German newspaper Die Zeit uncovered the leak. Journalist Eva Wolfangel writes about how she was able to listen in on some government officials’ meetings via Cisco Webex and collect metadata about thousands of meetings. This data includes information about the host and general data about the meeting, such as the ID number and time.

The leak is also confirmed by the Dutch government. In addition to the Dutch government, Cisco Webex is also known to be used by government officials in Germany, France and Italy.

It is not known whether this is also the case in our country. A survey conducted by our editorial team among readers shows that Cisco Webex has only a very limited share of the video conferencing software market.

Meetings without password

Die Zeit reports that it was surprisingly easy to attend meetings of the German SDP. Often it was enough to simply add a number to the meeting URL. After that, no password was required to participate. In other words, the leak could have opened the door to espionage.

Cisco confirms that the leak has been closed and no evidence has been found that active abuse has taken place. However, the incident could still have negative consequences for our northern neighbors, as the Home Office is not taking this lightly.

In a letter, State Secretary Alexandra Van Nuffelen (D66) says she finds it “unacceptable” that news of the leak reached the government via the German media. Cisco is allowed to explain it to the cabinet.