Targeted ? Patrick Sensburg ( above ) , the head of Germany 's spying inquiry , claims his own encrypted mobile phone may have been hacked . The head of a German inquiry into foreign spying believes his own mobile phone may have been hacked , it has been reported . Patrick Sensburg is chairman of a committee set up last year over claims the U.S. National Security Agency ( NSA ) had listened in to Angela Merkel 's phone calls . Mr Sensburg and other political figures had been issued with encrypted mobile phones that were said to be watertight against any hacking attempt . He is reported to have sent his phone to Germany 's IT security service in a lead-lined sealed container by German courier company DHL to be examined . But when it arrived at the Federal Office for Information Security ( BSI ) , the package had been opened and tampered with , according to the Daily Telegraph which cited a report by Welt newspaper . The BSI is now examining the phone . If proven to be the case , it could have potentially damaging repercussions for relations between Germany and UK , which has already expressed concerns about the investigation . It was reported last month that the UK government had threatened to end its co-operation with German intelligence agencies if members of the inquiry were given access to classified information . This threat was neither confirmed or denied by the UK , but a Whitehall source said the government was 'working closely with the German government to engage with the parliamentary inquiry ' . The German government has since been seeking a compromise that would only allow Mr Sensburg to see that data which he would then relay to the other members , German media reported . Any apparent breach to Mr Sensburg 's security would most likely scupper what is already a fragile compromise . NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden claimed in October that the U.S. security service had been listening in on the calls of up to 35 prominent allies , including France and Germany . Eavesdropping : The German Parliamentary inquiry was set up last year over claims the U.S. National Security Agency ( NSA ) had listened in to Angela Merkel 's phone calls . That lead to claims Angela Merkel 's personal mobile phone was tapped and caused the German Chancellor to demand answers from the U.S. government . While American authorities never acknowledged whether spying took place , Barack Obama was forced to offer Mrs Merkel an apology . Then in December it was reported that Mrs Merkel had also fallen victim to hacking after a sophisticated computer virus was discovered on the USB drive of one of her aides . The Reign virus , which is believed to have been developed by U.S. and British spying agencies , was detected after one of Mrs Merkel 's employees plugged her personal drive into a work laptop . The woman , who works in close contact with Mrs Merkel , had loaded a speech she was editing on to the drive , took it home to continue working on it , before returning to the office . It is also not known what , if any , information was taken . Reign allows users to take pictures of a computer screen , take control of the mouse , record passwords and restore deleted files .
Patrick U.S. heads committee set up to investigate foreign spying . Set up over claims Sensburg spies had listened in to Angela Merkel 's calls . Mr U.S. sent encrypted phone to IT specialists in lead-lined package . But when it arrived , the container 'had been opened and tampered with '