Boris Johnson must pay attention to basic cybersecurity rules, says security adviser

Anybody with access to secret information needed to be aware of the fast-changing risk, the peer added, including the prime minister, who was forced to change his mobile number last year after it emerged it had been available online.

Johnson was forced to suddenly change his mobile phone last spring after it emerged that his number had been available online for 15 years. It was published on a thinktank press release from 2006 and never deleted.

There is no firm evidence as to why the UAE may have wanted to target Downing Street on that date. However, a day earlier the British government announced a range of economic sanctions targeting 20 Saudi nationals accused of being involved in the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, plus individuals from Russia, Myanmar and North Korea. Neighbouring UAE is a close ally of Saudi Arabia.

The UAE ambassador to London, Mansoor Abulhoul, denied reports that the UAE may have used spyware to hack into either Downing Street or the Foreign Office.

He added he was shocked that the allegations had even been made, pointing to the recent enhancement of relations between the two countries, including a growing economic partnership.

The denial is a reflection of the importance that the UAE attaches to the relationship, and the potential damage the espionage allegation could cause if it were given credence.

Pegasus is sold to governments for counter-terror or national security purposes, but there have been repeated accusations that it has been used to spy on opposition politicians, human rights defenders and journalists by at least 10 countries, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Three civil society activists in Britain are in the process of bringing a civil claim against NSO Group, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, after an investigation by the Guardian and others that showed more than 400 phone numbers had been selected for potential targeting.

After the episode was discovered, in August 2020, NSO Group is understood to have rewritten its software to prevent Pegasus from being allowed to target UK numbers.