German cyber-security sleuths said yesterday they were aware of suspicious activity targeting a lawmaker's private e-mail and social media accounts last month, but could not make the connection with a mass intrusion targeting hundreds of politicians until the legislators' data was published on a Twitter account.

The Federal Office for Information Security has been lambasted for not contacting the police about the leak till the breach became public knowledge last Friday, with the publication of the personal data of nearly 1,000 lawmakers and other prominent Germans on the Internet.

All those attacked had a history of criticising the far right, with only politicians from the far right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, spared.

SEE WORLD: German cybercops aware of 'dodgy' online activity in Dec