Iran behind cyber attack on MPs’ emails, unpublished report says
2 min read
A cyber attack against MPs’ emails carried out last June was most likely caused by Iranian hackers, according to an assessment by British intelligence.
Initial suspicion fell on Russia, but evidence now points to Iran, according to an unpolished report.
Dozens of MPs had their email accounts attacked on June 23rd, the day of the Brexit referendum.
A security source told the Guardian at the time: “It was a brute-force attack. It appears to have been state-sponsored. The nature of cyber-attacks means it is notoriously difficult to attribute an incident to a specific actor.”
The would-be hackers were trying to gain access to accounts with weak passwords.
Account security has since been strengthened, according to the Parliamentary Digital Service.
They said hackers deliberately targeted accounts that had weaker passwords than PDS guidelines suggested.
Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen said at the time 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,” he said.
Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, connected the news to reports that cabinet ministers’ passwords were for sale online. “We know that our public services are attacked, so it is not at all surprising that there should be an attempt to hack into parliamentary emails,” he said.
“And it’s a warning to everybody, whether they are in parliament or elsewhere, that they need to do everything possible to maintain their own cyber security.”
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