Keir abandoned email address because it was ‘dangerously obvious’ to hackers
Keir Starmer had to abandon his former email account due to fears it had been accessed by Russian hackers, a new book claims.
The alleged incident took place in 2022 while the now-PM was leader of the opposition, with staff told not to send him emails under any circumstances.
A source told journalists Gabriel Pogrund and Patrick Maguire that the Labour leader’s email address had been ‘dangerously obvious’.
Starmer subsequently set up two-factor authentication on his account to make it more secure, they write in their upcoming book Get In.
It is the latest revelation to show the British government’s apparent vulnerability to Russian cyber threats.
Then-foreign secretary Liz Truss also reportedly had her phone hacked by the Kremlin around the same time, with sensitive details of international negotiations raided.
A ‘total news blackout’ was ordered by Boris Johnson in response to avoid embarrassment amid ‘absolute pandemonium’ behind the scenes, according to the Mail on Sunday.
And last November, it was reported that Russia-based cybercriminals had stolen hundreds of emails and passwords from the Ministry of Defence and posted them on the dark web.
Logins belonging to 595 military personnel, MoD civil servants and defence contractors had been taken in hacks dating to 2020, prompting an investigation by the department.
A report from the National Audit Office last week found the cyber threat to the UK government was ‘severe and advancing quickly’.
Many IT systems used by different government departments were so old, officials were unable to find out how vulnerable they were to attacks.
A government spokesperson said action had been taken to ‘repair cyber defences neglected by successive governments’ with a new Cyber Security and Resilience Bill set to be introduced to parliament later this year.
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