Broadcaster RTL on 6 November first reported that a civil servant who was seeking to transfer to a position with Luxembourg’s intelligence service--Srel or Sre--had managed to gain access to the HR files of 80 members of staff. The files are confidential and identities of Srel staff are kept secret.

Bettel (DP) in answer to a parliamentary question confirmed that a government employee had contacted the Srel in June 2020, claiming to have gained access to HR files. “He indicated being able to prove with this action that he has the qualities needed to work for the Sre,” the prime minister said on 13 November.

“In contact with the civil servant it became clear that a series of names, which he identified during his research, were indeed employees of Sre. With other names, that he cited as an example, this was not the case,” Bettel said.

The secret service was charged with fixing vulnerabilities in the state’s IT network, “which happened immediately,” Bettel said. An inter-ministerial committee overseeing the secret service and a parliamentary supervisory committee were both informed, he said.

The public prosecutor has not been charged with an investigation, Bettel said, since the alleged list was not made public.

While the civil servant was turned down for his unsolicited job application, the PM did not indicate whether the individual in question faces any disciplinary sanctions internally.