Spy chiefs warn UK’s next General Election could be victim to Russian cyber attacks
Political parties have been warned Putin-backed hackers could steal and leak internal emails
SPY chiefs have warned that the next general election is vulnerable to cyber attacks by the Russians.
They have called an emergency summit with the main political parties to alert them to the risk.
Experts from the government's GCHQ listening centre at Cheltenham have made protecting the political system their "priority work".
They fear Kremlin-backed hackers could try to undermine senior political figures by stealing and leaking internal emails.
Databases containing voters’ political views could also be on their sights.
Security officials stepped in after Russia was accused of helping Donald Trump win the US presidential election by hacking and publishing 20,000 emails from the rival Democratic Party.
Russia was also accused of infiltrating the German parliament’s computer network in 2015.
Today Boris Johnson said there was "plenty of evidence that the Russians were capable" of such attacks.
He told ITV's Peston on Sunday that the Russians has been up to "all sorts of dirty tricks" - and pointed to an attempted coup in Montenegro.
Ciaran Martin, head of the National Cyber Security Centre, which fights cyber-attacks, has written to political leaders offering expert help to strengthen network security.
He has called a “technical seminar” on cyber- security for politicians.
He writes: “You will be aware of the coverage of events in the United States, Germany and elsewhere reminding us of the potential for hostile action against the UK political system.
“This is not just about the network security of political parties’ own systems."
"Attacks against our democratic processes go beyond this and can include attacks on parliament, constituency offices, think tanks and pressure groups and individuals’ email accounts.”
In a statement Martin said: “Protecting the UK’s political system from hostile cyber-activity is one of our operational priorities, so we have signposted parties to existing guidance and will deliver tailored seminars on cyber-security measures."
A senior government source said GCHQ would help with the security of “personal datasets, including the electoral roll and voter identification data”.