Europe

Russians Hacked Email of Former British Defense Secretary

RUNNING INTERFERENCE

U.S.-U.K. trade documents leaked online ahead of last year’s election were stolen from Liam Fox’s account.

2020-08-03T142646Z_359508999_RC2E6I9LREGY_RTRMADP_3_BRITAIN-RUSSIA-HACK_cqi3t8
Peter Nicholls/REUTERS

Documents hacked by Russia and leaked in the build-up to Britain’s elections last year were stolen directly from the email account of the former U.K. trade minister, according to a report by Reuters. The papers, which detailed U.S.-U.K trade talks, successfully derailed Boris Johnson’s election campaign for a day or two after they were held up at a public rally by Labour challenger Jeremy Corbyn. The source of the documents has now been revealed as Liam Fox, a former secretary of defense whose email account was compromised by Russians on several occasions between July and October last year, two insiders told Reuters.

Read it at Reuters