Jeremy Corbyn unwittingly used government documents stolen by Russian hackers to claim NHS ‘was up for sale’
BRITAIN blasted Russian state hackers for launching a years-long cyber attack on MPs in a failed bid to derail democracy.
Vladimir Putin’s ambassador to Britain was summoned for a dressing down as two culprits were sanctioned.
In one case, hackers stole sensitive documents from a Cabinet minister’s email account and leaked them ahead of the 2019 General Election.
The trade papers were unwittingly seized upon by then Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to claim the Tories would put the NHS “on the table” in talks with the US.
Yesterday, the National Cyber Security Centre blamed Putin’s FSB spy service for commanding the attacks since at least 2015.
The NCSC named hackers Star Blizzard, who were "almost certainly subordinate” to a branch of the dreaded FSB.
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Other victims include former MI6 spy chief Sir Richard Dearlove and the SNP MP .
A cache of Sir Richard’s emails were leaked last year, revealing his support for a hard Brexit.
In February, Mr McDonald said he was targeted by Russian intelligence who posed as one of his staff.
Ex-PM Liz Truss’s mobile phone was also reportedly hacked while she was Foreign Secretary, but it is not clear who was behind it.
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Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said Russia’s attempts to interfere were “completely unacceptable” but he insisted: “They have failed.”
Home Secretary James Cleverly warned that “fundamental British values and freedoms” were under attack.
He vowed to make Britain a harder place for spies and hackers to operate.
The NCSC said MPs from "multiple political parties" had been hit.
It said hackers had tried to “undermine trust in politics” through a combination of hacks and leaks which they amplified online.
The cyber spooks, who are part of the GCHQ intelligence service, said the attacks included “spear-phishing” where hackers pose as trusted contacts.
They added: “Attackers may use the information you post to engineer a spear-phishing attack and attempt to gain access to your account and data.”
Other targets since 2015 included journalists, think tanks, academics and charities.
The Star Blizzard hackers are also known by codenames Coldriver, Callisto Group and Seaborgium.
Joint cyber warnings were yesterday issued by Britain’s “Five Eyes” allies — Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States
The revelations are the latest in a long line of Russian meddling, including cyber attacks and assassinations.
Russia’s so-called Fancy Bear hackers, controlled by GRU military intelligence, stole emails from Hillary Clinton’s US presidential campaign team in 2016.
Another group known as Cozy Bear, run by Putin’s SVR foreign intelligence service, tried to steal Covid vaccines from Britain, the US and Canada in a “despicable attack” in 2020.
The GRU also carried out the botched but deadly Novichok nerve agent attack against Sergei and Julia Skripal in Salisbury in 2018.
The retired double agent and his daughter survived but innocent mum-of-three Dawn Sturgess was killed after being accidentally exposed to the poison hidden in a perfume bottle.
Putin’s agents were also behind the fatal 2006 poisoning of defector Alexander Litvinenko with polonium-210 in London.
And an alleged FSB agent, Vadim Krasikov, was blamed for the daylight murder of an exiled Chechen leader in a Berlin park in 2019.
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Kraskov was jailed for life for shooting Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in the head.
In the UK, five Bulgarians were arrested this year accused of spying for Russia between August 2020 and February 2023.
