Security News > 2020 > August > Doctor, doctor, got some sad news, there's been a bad case of hacking you: UK govt investigates email fail

Former UK trade minister and current Conservative MP Dr. Liam Fox has been named as the source of hacked trade documents released during last year's British elections.

A report from Reuters cited two anonymous sources who say that the 58 year-old Fox, who has since stepped down, had an email account taken over by Russian hackers, who then used it to obtain and release documents about Anglo-American trade talks.

It is not known precisely which Russian hacking crew was behind the attack, though the report notes that it carried all the hallmarks of a state-sponsored operation.

The Kremlin has long been believed to pressure criminal hackers to do its bidding by offering incentives or by threatening jail time if they fail to cooperate.

The 2019 hack was said to be only one of a long-running series of attacks Russia pulled off in its attempts to tip UK elections.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2020/08/04/russians_hack_fox/