Humiliation for Tories as major security blunder sees Cabinet ministers' personal details exposed
3 min read
The personal details of senior Cabinet ministers were left exposed to the public after a major security blunder on the Conservatives' conference app.
In a humiliation ahead of the party's annual gathering, the mobile phone numbers of Tory MPs, journalists and others attending the event in Birmingham.
The embarrassing blunder meant that anyone possessing the email address of an attendee were able to log into their personal profile without having to provide a password or any other kind of authentication.
Pictures posted to social media showed that dozens of profiles had been accessed on the app, which was designed for the Conservatives' get-together by an Austrialian tech firm.
Journalist Dawn Foster was able to access the profile of Boris Johnson, where his mobile number was visible.
Pranksters later logged in and changed the image on the account to hardcore pornography, and changed Mr Johnson's job title to ‘Hard Brexit’.
Other images posted to Twitter showed that the profiles of a raft of senior Cabinet ministers had been accessed through the same method.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove has had his profile picture changed to one of Rupert Murdoch.
The incident will raise serious questions around the security of attendees after the information of Home Secretary Sajid Javid and Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson were also accessed during the security breach.
The party could now face an investigation from the Information Commissioner, who is tasked with looking into breaches of personal information.
A Conservative spokesman said: "The technical issue has been resolved and the app is now functioning securely. We are investigating the issue further and apologise for any concern caused."
Jon Trickett MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, said: "How can we trust this Tory government with our country's security when they can't even build a conference app that keeps the data of their members, MPs and others attending safe and secure?
"The Conservative Party should roll out some basic computer security training to get their house in order."
A Momentum spokesperson said: "This sums up the Tories, staggeringly incompetent and out of touch with the modern world.
"They can’t even build a basic conference app without a huge data breach, and it’s terrifying that they’re in charge of the tech that runs our hospitals, schools and airports.
"Our conference app was built by a team of volunteers for next to no money, and I'm sure they'd be happy to give the Tories a few tips for next year."
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