Internet security specialists at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab have said that mobile phone devices linked to the UK Prime Minister, the UK Foreign Office and other senior government departments, have been infected by so-called 'Trojan horse' software that allows hackers to steal and become privy to secret information.
The Trojan horse attack using a piece of spyware software known as 'Pegasus' is thought to have originated in the United Arab Emirates, though the UAE government is not thought to be involved.
Director of the Citizen Lab and Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Ron Deibert, said of the findings:
"During the course of our investigations into mercenary spyware, we will occasionally observe cases where we suspect that governments are using spyware to undertake international espionage against other governments. The vast majority of these cases are outside of our scope and mission. However, in certain select cases, where appropriate and while preserving our independence, we decide to notify these governments through the official channels, especially if we believe that our actions can reduce harm."
He continued:
"We confirm that in 2020 and 2021 we observed and notified the government of the United Kingdom of multiple suspected instances of Pegasus spyware infections within official UK networks."
The UK government refused to comment on the matter.
The Pegasus software was originally created by an Israeli company known as the NSO Group. Once the software sneaks onto a device, it can then steal information, download information and view the phone's contents and activities. It can even turn on the mobile phone's microphone and camera and record images or sound, making it an invaluable tool for hackers and spys.
Boris Johnson has been criticised on security issues in the past after it was revealed that his phone number had been publicly available online for years.
Given the tensions with Russia any breakthrough of security in western nations must be treated extremely seriously. In the past week, US president Joe Biden has stated that the US has intelligence that Russia may be preparing to carry out a major cyber-attack on the US or other NATO nations.
[Based on reporting by: MSN]
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