Truss cellphone was hacked by suspected Putin brokers when she was international minister

LONDON (Reuters) – Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss’s private cellphone was hacked by suspected brokers working for Russian President Vladimir Putin when she was international minister, the Every day Mail reported on Saturday.

These brokers gained entry to “top-secret particulars” of negotiations with worldwide allies along with non-public messages exchanged with Truss’s shut good friend Kwasi Kwarteng, who later grew to become finance minister, the report mentioned.

The messages are believed to have included discussions with senior worldwide international ministers concerning the struggle in Ukraine, together with particulars about arms shipments, it added.

As much as a 12 months’s value of messages had been downloaded, the Mail mentioned, citing unnamed sources.

A British authorities spokesperson declined to touch upon “people’ safety preparations”.

“The Authorities has sturdy techniques in place to guard towards cyber threats. That features common safety briefings for Ministers, and recommendation on defending their private information and mitigating cyber threats,” the spokesperson added.

The hack was found throughout the Conservative Social gathering management marketing campaign that led to Truss turning into prime minister, the Mail reported.

Truss left workplace final week as prime minister and was succeeded by Rishi Sunak.

The Mail mentioned the messages that fell into international fingers included criticisms of Johnson made by Truss and Kwarteng, “resulting in a possible danger of blackmail”.