It has emerged that an alleged spyware hack against the UK government is likely linked to a country which Boris Johnson has just begged to buy more oil from.
Having just travelled to the country to beg for oil last month, it has now emerged that the United Arab Emirates is likely behind a claimed spyware hack perpetrated against Boris Johnson’s government, British state broadcaster the BBC reports.
This is according to the University of Toronto based security group The Citizen Lab, which has said that a number of other ostensible allies to the UK had also used Israeli-made spyware for the likely purpose of snooping.
According to a report by The New Yorker, there were at least five digital attacks on the UK government phones between July 2020 and June 2021.
One of these attacks has been linked back to the UAE, with it being suspected that the attack took place on the same day the UK imposed sanctions on the Arab country’s head-chopping ally, Saudi Arabia, in retaliation for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The UK government were subsequently unable to find the device which had been infected with spyware reportedly developed by Israeli tech firm NSO Group, with it being suspected that even Boris Johnson’s own device might have been contaminated with the software.
“When we found the No. 10 case, my jaw dropped,” one researcher at The Citizen Lab said, with another saying that the aim of the attack was suspected to be the “exfiltration of data”.
Other countries reportedly found to have likely hacked the UK government include India, Cyprus and Jordan.
Word of the suspected UAE hack comes only a month after Boris Johnson ventured into the country to beg for more oil.
The Prime Minister’s trip was prompted by the ongoing energy crisis linked to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, with Johnson hoping to boost supplies from both the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the hopes of lowering fuel costs while curbing western reliance on Russia.
“When we look at the dependency the West in particular has built up on Putin’s hydrocarbons, on Putin’s oil and gas, we can see what a mistake that was because he’s been able to blackmail the West and hold western economies to ransom – we need independence,” Johnson previously said regarding the trip.
However, having already come under serious fire over being willing to work with the Saudi Arabian regime due to its propensity for decapitating those it deems convicted criminals, it looks like the embattled PM may now also have to explain why the UK should be willing to by oil from a nation which sees no issue with snooping on Britain’s private affairs.