MI5 STOPS RUSSIANS HACKING MP PHONES

Foreign cyber attack fear in poll run-up

MI5 has mounted a topsecret election operation to protect MPs’ phones from Russian hackers.

Spy chiefs have ordered unprecedented measures to beef up the security of candidates vulnerable to foreign cyber attack.

Warnings were issued to MPs and their staff after it was discovered that some phone accounts were being targeted by hackers.

Personal and political communications have been shut down on MI5 advice, disrupting campaigns and throwing election planning into turmoil.

Targeted MPs have been told to stay silent about the interference from a “foreign power” and instructed not to use any of their usual devices until they have been cleared by bugging sweeps.

One said he was informed there had been a “concerted effort to hack my accounts by a foreign power”.

Staff were advised to report any “odd” activity on phones and computers.

It comes amid continuing mystery over the contents of a report on Kremlin interference in UK elections which has been suppressed by PM Boris Johnson.

The report, from Parliament’s intelligence and security committee, examines Russian interference and sabotage in successive British elections and the 2016 Brexit referendum.

No 10 says the document needs time to process – but there is concern it has been withheld because it contains information that could have a bearing on the 12 December poll.

One source said: “If it shows the result of the referendum was affected by Russian intelligence then the underlying point of this election now could be called into question.”

Dominic Grieve, who chaired the committee’s inquiry, said: “There has been a lot of disquiet about the possibility of Russian interference.”