MI5 seized Boris Johnson’s phone over security risk fears

The British intelligence agency MI5 seized Boris Johnson ‘s phone over concerns related to the availability of his number online for the last 15 years.

The British Security Service, also known as MI5, has seized the mobile devices used by PM Boris Johnson over concerns that were raised after the discovery of the availability of its number online for the last 15 years

In April, media reported that Boris Johnson ‘s personal mobile phone number has been freely available on the internet for the past 15 years after it was published in a think tank press release in 2006, but never deleted

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer declared it was “a serious situation [that] carries a security risk,” but Chancellor Rishi Sunak said that, as far as he was aware, “all security protocols have been followed”.

After the disclosure of the news, the number was switched off and the intelligence has seized the phone of the PM fearing a cyber-attack from foreign nation-state actors.

“MI5 was not concerned over further booty calls from his pole dancer squeeze Jennifer Arcuri or other deepthroats to whom Boris may have slipped the number over the years.” reported the DailyMail. “But there was certainly concern over a possible hack-attack from hostile states – or even friendly ones such as Saudi Arabia, after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was suspected of accessing Amazon boss Jeff Bezos’s phone by planting spyware via a WhatsApp message.”

Experts criticized the way the Prime Minister was using his mobile phone after Dominic Cummings published the WhatsApp messages exchanged with Boris Johnson. In one of the messages, Mr Johnson described Health Secretary Matt Haancock as “totally f****ing hopeless.”

The Mirror also revealed that the PM exchanged sexy texts with and Jennifer Arcuri using the phone number.

“On one occasion, in November 2015, he sent a “desperate” plea for an intimate photo of her, while they were both in Tel Aviv, Israel.” reported the Mirror. “Texts seen by the Mirror show they discussed meeting at the King David Hotel, where Johnson was a guest of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Johnson wanted to see pictures of Jennifer, texting: “Photo x.” She asks playfully: “Is that a statement or a request? ;-)”. Johnson replies: “It is a desperate request xxx.””

The case raises the importance of a good cyber security posture for politicians and government officials. The hack of their mobile devices could pose a threat to homeland security.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Boris Johnson)

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Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.