British PM scrapped ‘dangerously obvious’ email after Russian hacking

Keir Starmer had to abandon his “dangerously obvious” email in 2022, when he was still the UK’s opposition leader, due to suspected Russian hacking, a new book has claimed.

Starmer stopped using a personal email account after a suspected breach by Russian hackers, according to an upcoming book Get In by journalists Gabriel Pogrund and Patrick Maguire.

The book about the Labour leader stated that the breach occurred shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and was part of a wider attack, as reported by The Times.

Starmer’s staff were told not to send him emails under any circumstances and the now-PM set up two-factor authentication on his account to better secure it as a result. According to a source quoted in the book, his email was “dangerously obvious.”

The National Cyber Security Centre warned the Labour leader’s office about a possible hack. The authorities said sensitive information may have been taken, but according to The Times, none was published.

It was reported that hackers also targeted former BBC journalist Paul Mason, who was informally advising shadow defence secretary John Healey at the time.

Mason was in Ukraine before Russia’s 2022 invasion and sent briefings to Healey, Starmer, and former NATO secretary-general George Robertson. His correspondence with Healey contained “limited intelligence value,” but could have provided insights into Labour’s views on defense and Russia, according to the book.

The Labour Party replaced the Conservative government in July last year after winning a landslide general election victory.

In 2022, then-foreign secretary Liz Truss also had her phone reportedly hacked by the Russians, with “highly sensitive” exchanges exposed, including details about arms shipments to Ukraine.

Last year, the British armed forces suffered a data breach, with China suspected of being behind the attack, while a Russian state-affiliated cyber group reportedly gained access to Home Office systems.

In a stark warning published last week, the National Audit Office said that the cyber threat to the British government was “severe and advancing quickly.” The watchdog said that the government still uses at least 228 legacy systems and “does not know how vulnerable these are to cyber attack.”