Published in News

UK political hack was carried out by amateurs

by on06 July 2017


Not the Russians this time

A hack of UK politicians which was thought to be the work of Russians turned out to be carried out by amateurs.

The private email accounts of up to 90 of the 650 members of Britain's House of Commons were targeted in late June, with some news reports suggesting that the attack was carried out by a foreign government, such as Russia.

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen warned that such an attack “absolutely” could leave some people open to blackmail. “Constituents want to know the information they send to us is completely secure.”

However Reuters  quoted some unnamed cyber security experts who had found that the hackers only managed to access accounts of lawmakers who used primitive and easily discovered passwords. It looked like an opportunistic hack rather than the efforts of a state spying operating.

It remains unclear who did carry out the attack, they added. Investigators hope the hack will convince politicians and other public figures to use more sophisticated passwords for their email and other online activities.

Last modified on 06 July 2017
Rate this item
(0 votes)

Read more about: