MPs warned over phishing attacks via message apps

MPs are facing rising numbers of phishing attacks and Russia-based actors are actively targeting the WhatsApp and Signal accounts of politicians and officials, the UK parliamentary authorities have warned.

- Robert Booth UK technology editor

MPs, peers and officials are being asked to step up their cybersecurity after a continued rise in attacks, which have involved messages pretending to be from the application’s support team, asking a user to enter an access code, click a link or scan a QR code.

If successful, the attacker can read the parliamentarian’s messages, download their contact lists and monitor their activity, all without being discovered, according to a memo sent yesterday and seen by the Guardian.

The warning comes after the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), based at GCHQ, shared new measures in October to protect parliamentarians from phishing attacks, but “such cases have continued to rise”, it said.