LONDON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was forced to abandon his personal email account shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine due to a suspected hack from Moscow, according to a new book.
The then-leader of the opposition was told by the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre in 2022 that his account may have been compromised due to a sophisticated campaign by hackers linked to the Kremlin, according to “Get In: The Inside Story of Labour Under Starmer,” by reporters Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund.
Starmer’s then-Head of Office Jill Cuthbertson, who now serves as a deputy chief of staff, reportedly ordered staff not to email the Labour leader under any circumstances without an explanation. He subsequently changed his email and added two-factor authentication to his account.
Starmer is not the first frontline figure to apparently have his communications maliciously targeted.
Liz Truss’ phone was reportedly hacked while she was foreign secretary. The former head of intelligence agency MI6 Richard Dearlove’s email account was also targeted by Russian operatives, as was that of left-wing commentator Paul Mason, who was informally advising then Shadow Defense Secretary John Healey on industrial policy.
The Times reported Monday that while there is no evidence Starmer’s personal emails have been published, the country’s intelligence services could not guarantee sensitive information had remained secure.
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