Last week, five members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties visited Hungary. The purpose of the visit was to assess the state of EU values, including judicial independence, media freedom, anti-corruption efforts, the situation of civil society and the rights of LGBTIQ+ people. A member of the European Parliament who participated in the visit told Politico that the delegation was offered Faraday bags – pouches with special fabrics that block electromagnetic signals – and advised to be cautious when using public Wi-Fi networks or charging stations. Hungary had previously been criticized by EU lawmakers for its surveillance programs. In 2023, the European Parliament’s Investigative Committee into the Use of Monitoring and Spying Software (PEGA) conducted an investigation after it became known that Hungarian authorities had used spyware against opposition figures and journalists in the country. Additionally, Belgian and Hungarian media reported in December that the Hungarian secret service had spied on EU officials who visited the country between 2015 and 2017. According to the report, their hotel rooms were searched and their phone calls recorded. The Hungarian government denied the allegations. Faraday bags block incoming and outgoing signals to protect devices from hacking and other forms of surveillance or tracking. Two officials familiar with the EU Parliament’s security policy told the magazine that the use of these bags during the travel of EU members was not usual. In 2018, the European Commission published a tender for suppliers of Faraday bags. The EU occasionally provides its top officials with burner phones, also known as one-time or temporary phones, for trips when they deal with highly confidential matters. However, the member of the European Parliament said that the officials were not equipped with burner phones or simple laptops before their trip to Budapest this week. When Politico asked if such devices were provided to EU officials on the Hungary trip or other missions, the parliament’s press spokesperson did not want to disclose any details. The statement said that the officials were regularly informed about security and cybersecurity measures during official trips and “materials related to this are provided to the members.” The Financial Times reported on Monday that EU Commissioners and high-ranking EU officials who would travel to the US for the spring meeting of the IMF and World Bank next week had been instructed to take simple phones and laptops. “They are concerned that the US could infiltrate the EU Commission’s systems” the newspaper quoted an EU official as saying. The EU normally takes such measures when traveling to Ukraine and China, according to the Financial Times. Reports suggested that it is part of the instructions for all employees traveling to the US to turn off their phones at the US border and keep them in special cases to protect them from espionage if they are left unattended. The European Commission denied on Tuesday that it had given instructions to use burner phones during official EU missions to the US. However, the agency did state that it had recently updated its security guidelines for staff traveling to the US.
EU Lawmakers Use Secret Spy Bags on Hungary Trip Amidst Allegations of Opponent Spying
