Russian spies 'hacked Liz Truss' phone', gained 'secret negotiations with allies': Report

Russian spies allegedly hacked into the phone of former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss, unveiled a raft of top-secret information, accessed top-secret negotiations with key international allies and unleashed a "pandemonium." The breach was uncovered when Truss, the then British foreign secretary, was contesting in the Tory leadership race.

The Russian agents gained access to Truss negotiations about arms supply to Ukraine, as well as her personal messages to her future Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng. While the British government knew of the hack, the then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case suppressed details about the hack, the Daily Mail reported on Sunday, October 30. 

'Goal is either to exfiltrate intelligence, or to embarrass a foreign official': Ex-DIA intelligence officer

Of the trove of data accessed by the Russian spies on Truss' phone, messages allegedly including harsh criticisms of Boris Johnson made by both Truss and Kwarteng, were compromised. This, the British government feared, might lead to a risk of potential blackmail from the Kremlin. Truss, one of the steadfast supporters of Ukraine, and a primary point of contact for the UK's response to the Russian invasion, had been one of the most vocal critics of the regime of the Russian Federation. As her cellphone data was hacked, both Johnson and civil service boss Simon Case kept it a "secret." 

“It’s a standard operating procedure for Russian intelligence operatives to try and intercept communications of prominent foreign leaders that are high-value targets for them,” Rebekah Koffler, the president of Doctrine & Strategy Consulting and a former DIA intelligence officer, told American broadcaster Fox News Digital, weighing into the matter. 

“The goal is either to exfiltrate intelligence or to embarrass a foreign official by leaking hacked content, if the Russians find something juicy, in terms of personal data," Koffler went on to add. 

There have reportedly been other instances of the Russian compromise of sensitive information. Earlier, the Russians posted a phone call recording that Russia's President Vladimir Putin intercepted between US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt and Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland. In the telephonic conversation, the duo were heard making diapproving remarks about the European Union. 

"It is not a great look for the intelligence services if the Foreign Secretary's phone can be so easily plundered for embarrassing personal messages by agents presumed to be working for Putin's Russia," a source in the British government familiar with the matter told British newspaper The Daily Mail. This caused absolute pandemonium," he added. 

As the reports emerged, UK's Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has strengthened calls for launching a probe into the incident. "There are immensely important national security issues raised by an attack like this by a hostile state which will have been taken extremely seriously by our intelligence and security agencies. There are also serious security questions around why and how this information has been leaked or released right now which must also be urgently investigated," Cooper said. "It is essential that all of these security issues are investigated and addressed at the very highest level and we need to know that the Government recognises the gravity of this and the importance of fully protecting our national security."

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran, in turn, urged for an investigation. "We need an urgent independent investigation to uncover the truth. Was Liz Truss's phone hacked by Russia, was there a news blackout and if so why?" she enquired. "If it turns out this information was withheld from the public to protect Liz Truss's leadership bid, that would be unforgivable," Moran noted. A British government spokesperson separately said, “We do not comment on individuals’ security arrangements."