Tuesday, August 04, 2020
Another embarrassment for Johnson's Brexiteers
Anybody wondering why the UK Government was trying to suppress the release of a parliamentary report on Russian interference in our democratic process need no look no further than this article in today's Guardian.
Liam Fox's alleged incompetence in failing to secure sensitive government documents from hackers may not have featured in the report, but the general impression given by this latest incident is that the government is flailing about, clueless and impotent in the face of actions by external agitators.
The Guardian says that a personal email account belonging to Liam Fox, the former trade minister, was repeatedly hacked into by Russians who stole classified documents relating to US-UK trade talks. The stolen documents – a 451-page dossier of emails – ultimately ended up in the hands of Jeremy Corbyn during last winter’s election campaign after Russian actors tried to disseminate the material online:
Details of Russia’s targeting of Fox’s emails were first revealed on Monday by Reuters, which said his account was accessed several times between 12 July and 21 October last year. It was unclear if the documents were obtained when the staunch leave supporter was still trade secretary; he was dropped by Boris Johnson on 24 July.
The attack is understood to have deployed a “spear-phishing” technique frequently used by Russian actors, in which superficially plausible emails are sent inviting the recipient to click on an attached file. The file contains malicious code designed to give access to or take control of the target’s computer.
Chris Bryant, a Labour MP and former Foreign Office minister, said he was not surprised that the Kremlin might want to hack the trade secretary’s email, given Russia’s long history of targeting western politicians.
“What shocks me is using insecure personal email accounts for sensitive, classified government business. This a very serious breach of national security and should be a criminal offence,” Bryant added.
Using personal emails for UK government business is not illegal but ministers are reminded that government information “must be handled in accordance with the requirements of the law, including the Official Secrets Act”, in guidance published by the government in 2013.
The stupidity involved in this leak is legion. Anybody in any position of influence is consistently warned not to click on unknown or suspicious attachments, whilst surely the 2016 controversy surrounding Hillary Clinton's use of of a private server, the well-known hacking of the Democratic National Party's servers and many more instances prior to Fox's material being stolen, should have alerted him and everybody else only to use secure government networks for sensitive government documents.
Astonishingly, Johnson has now nominated Fox to be the next Director General of the World Trade Organisation despite the fact that during his tenure as UK Trade Secretary he failed to secure a single trade deal. Fox is also the man who predicted that a free trade agreement with the EU should be "one of the easiest in human history", something he may have failed to mention to our current negotiators.
With a track record like this he will no doubt be welcomed with open arms by the WTO and, given his misguided and mistaken criticism of a lack of democracy in the EU, he will surely submit his new role to a democratic election, in which all the citizens of the WTO members get a vote.
Liam Fox's alleged incompetence in failing to secure sensitive government documents from hackers may not have featured in the report, but the general impression given by this latest incident is that the government is flailing about, clueless and impotent in the face of actions by external agitators.
The Guardian says that a personal email account belonging to Liam Fox, the former trade minister, was repeatedly hacked into by Russians who stole classified documents relating to US-UK trade talks. The stolen documents – a 451-page dossier of emails – ultimately ended up in the hands of Jeremy Corbyn during last winter’s election campaign after Russian actors tried to disseminate the material online:
Details of Russia’s targeting of Fox’s emails were first revealed on Monday by Reuters, which said his account was accessed several times between 12 July and 21 October last year. It was unclear if the documents were obtained when the staunch leave supporter was still trade secretary; he was dropped by Boris Johnson on 24 July.
The attack is understood to have deployed a “spear-phishing” technique frequently used by Russian actors, in which superficially plausible emails are sent inviting the recipient to click on an attached file. The file contains malicious code designed to give access to or take control of the target’s computer.
Chris Bryant, a Labour MP and former Foreign Office minister, said he was not surprised that the Kremlin might want to hack the trade secretary’s email, given Russia’s long history of targeting western politicians.
“What shocks me is using insecure personal email accounts for sensitive, classified government business. This a very serious breach of national security and should be a criminal offence,” Bryant added.
Using personal emails for UK government business is not illegal but ministers are reminded that government information “must be handled in accordance with the requirements of the law, including the Official Secrets Act”, in guidance published by the government in 2013.
The stupidity involved in this leak is legion. Anybody in any position of influence is consistently warned not to click on unknown or suspicious attachments, whilst surely the 2016 controversy surrounding Hillary Clinton's use of of a private server, the well-known hacking of the Democratic National Party's servers and many more instances prior to Fox's material being stolen, should have alerted him and everybody else only to use secure government networks for sensitive government documents.
Astonishingly, Johnson has now nominated Fox to be the next Director General of the World Trade Organisation despite the fact that during his tenure as UK Trade Secretary he failed to secure a single trade deal. Fox is also the man who predicted that a free trade agreement with the EU should be "one of the easiest in human history", something he may have failed to mention to our current negotiators.
With a track record like this he will no doubt be welcomed with open arms by the WTO and, given his misguided and mistaken criticism of a lack of democracy in the EU, he will surely submit his new role to a democratic election, in which all the citizens of the WTO members get a vote.
Comments:
<< Home
There are no words that can be said to demonstrate the incompetence of Fox in a responsible position making a balls of it. Not to mention no trade deals. De Pfeffel promoting him to WHO representative (promote an incompetence to higher office to 'get rid of him') shows that De P.d does not show responsibility to his country. It also shows that ONLY Brexiteers have a say. Not good for a country that will have to accommodate all sorts of countries with all sorts of views if there is only one track taken up.
Post a Comment
<< Home
