Chinese and Russian spies will target parliamentary candidates in elections, GCHQ warns

National Cyber ​​Security Center GCHQ said election candidates would be 'high risk'; targets Photo: David Goddard/Getty Images

Chinese and Russian spies will try to target potential MPs ahead of the general election, GCHQ bosses fear.

The National Cyber ​​Security Center (NCSC), a division of the Government Communications Center (GCHQ), has announced a new “cyber security service” that will be offered to political candidates and election officials in the run-up to the election.

Candidates will be able to have an extra layer of security on their personal devices, such as mobile phones, that will warn them if they try to visit a website that security services consider to be «malicious».

The measures will protect against potential spear-phishing, malware and other cyber-attacks, the NCSC said, warning that potential MPs and election officials are at “high risk”.

The organization warned that “candidates’ personal accounts and election officials, as well as their official work accounts, are almost certainly attractive targets for cybercriminals looking to conduct espionage operations.”

It said the launch of the new subscription service followed government allegations of attempts by «Russian intelligence services and individuals linked to the Chinese state to carry out malicious activities targeting UK institutions and individuals, including parliamentarians.»

Spies target electronic email

This comes after it emerged earlier this year that GCHQ believed that APT31, a Chinese state-linked entity, was almost certainly responsible for the 2021 email attack on parliamentarians.

Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, told MPs that hackers linked to the Chinese state were also responsible for the Electoral Commission hack between 2021 and 2022.

He said at the time that the two attacks demonstrated «a clear and consistent pattern of behavior that signals hostile intent on the part of China» and announced a series of sanctions in response.

News last week that the Ministry of Defense had been hacked has also fueled speculation that Beijing was responsible, but the government has yet to name a specific attacker as responsible.

Last year, the UK also condemned Moscow's «continuous attempts at political interference» in the UK and around the world, citing attempts to harass parliamentarians, civil servants and journalists.

The NCSC already offers support to MPs and public sector staff and has previously urged those at high risk to register their online accounts so the organization can alert them to any «malicious activity».

MPs were reminded of this. The support available comes after the Westminster “honeypot” scandal erupted in April when several men in Parliament received suspicious WhatsApp messages from those using the aliases “Charlie” and “Abi”. It is currently unknown who was behind the chain of messages.

Jonathan Ellison of the NCSC said on Wednesday: “People who play an important role in our democracy are attractive targets for cybercriminals seeking to undermine or otherwise undermine our an open and free society.
 
“That's why NCSC has increased our support for people at higher risk of being targeted online, to ensure they can better protect their accounts and devices from attacks.
 
“In this momentous election year around the world, I encourage people eligible for our services to sign up and follow our guidance now to strengthen their protection.”