Lufthansa spied in hunt for mole

Lufthansa is the latest German company to admit spying on journalists in a bid to trap company moles leaking sensitive information to the press.

Deutsche Telekom and Deutsche Bahn are already on the rack over similar infringements of the country's privacy and data protection laws.

The airline has admitted spying on a former board member and journalist for a financial daily newspaper in seeking to identify the source of leaks from the board.

To solidify evidence that a member of its control board had contact with the journalist, the company examined the frequent flyer's passenger data.

The Lufthansa board ordered the company's own security department to track down the source of the leaks inside the company.

"Nothing illegal happened here," said Lufthansa, which claims the mole quit "for health reasons" after he was exposed. It is not clear whether prosecutors intend to open a formal probe.