MPS APPS SPY PERIL’
MPS are being warned not to install apps on their mobiles during the election in case Russian spies use them to hack into their accounts.
And ministers have been banned by security chiefs from access to app stores in case they download dodgy malware. The alert came after a Norwegian cyber security firm claimed it got into a Home Office app.
Even a torch app can lead to breaches in firewalls. Blackberry’s cyber security boss Brian Robison encountered one such app but it disappeared before he could identify the operator.
Problems begin when you click on terms and conditions – giving the app access to location, contacts, messages, camera and microphone.
Brian said: “My advice to politicians is not to install anything you don’t absolutely need. Thousands of apps do something malicious.” As well as Russia, he says hacker teams in China and North Korea are trying to access our systems.
Last week Labour computers came under siege twice. The party said the attack came from devices in Russia and Brazil but there was no data breach.
Norwegian company Promon said it could access phones via a Home Office app to help 3.5million EU citizens apply to live and work in the UK after Brexit.
A Home Office spokesman said: “More than a million people have used the app safely. We continually review our systems to ensure it is kept safe.”
FRANKIE and Benny’s restaurant chain
has its first Christmas vegan option after meatfree sausage rolls went
down a storm.
THE sale of a vintage toy collection
has raised £32,000 earmarked for eco projects by owner Mike Stockwell,
69, of Chesterfield.