Police fear Russians tried to hack into Novichok inquiry

RUSSIA has attempted to hack into Scotland Yard’s Novichok murder inquiry, The Daily Telegraph understands.

Police believe that Russian-based hackers tried to infiltrate the investigation into the nerve agent attack in Salisbury, which targeted Sergei Skripal, the former Russian spy, and his daughter Yulia.

The Skripals survived the assassination attempt in March, but Dawn Sturgess, 44, a mother-of-three, died just over a week ago while Charlie Rowley, 45, her partner, remains critically ill.

Officers believe that Russians had tried to compromise cyber security systems at the Metropolitan Police about a fortnight ago, at about the time that Ms Sturgess and Mr Rowley were first taken ill.

It is understood one officer has complained that he feared his mobile telephone had been subjected to a cyber attack. “The Russians are desperate to know how the inquiry is progressing,” said a source. Police are confident that there has been no breach of security.

As previously reported by The Telegraph, detectives have examined flight manifests to and from Moscow and CCTV footage in and around Salisbury that has enabled them to determine “persons of interest”.

Mr Rowley is now conscious and talking to police and likely able to pinpoint where he picked up the “small glass bottle” which was contaminated with Novichok nerve agent and which is thought to have been discarded by the assassination squad.

The location of the bottle may be key for counter-terrorism officers to prove the identities of the killers by matching it with CCTV footage in Salisbury.

The New York Times reported yesterday that the attack is now believed to have been carried out by “current or former” agents of the military intelligence unit called the GRU in which Col Skripal served as a senior officer.