CLASSIFIED documents used by Labour in the general election were reportedly hacked by Russians from the email account of the senior Tory MP Liam Fox.
The files, about US-UK trade talks, became a 450-page dossier cited by Jeremy Corbyn as evidence the Government was ready to open up the NHS to American private health firms after Brexit.
The Reuters news agency said Russian hackers accessed Mr Fox’s email multiple occasions between July and October last year.
The account was said to have been the victim of a “spear phishing” message, where users are tricked into handing over their log-in and password.
Mr Fox, who was International Trade Secretary from July 2016 to July 2019, is currently the UK’s nominee to be the next leader of the World Trade Organisation.
The National Crime Agency said it was leading an investigation, after Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab recently accused “Russian actors” of seeking to influence the general election vote by “amplifying” the stolen papers online.
A UK Government spokesperson said: “There is an ongoing criminal investigation into how the documents were acquired, and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this point.
“But as you would expect, the Government has very robust systems in place to protect the IT systems of officials and staff.”
The National Cyber Security Centre said it worked closely with MPs and parties to offer them “the best cyber security guidance and support.”
A spokesperson said: “We have worked closely with political parties for several years on how to protect and defend against cyber attacks - including publishing advice on our website.
“There is an ongoing criminal investigation and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”
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