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Sunday, March 12, 2017

Boris Johnson warns Russia is up to 'all sorts of dirty tricks'

Boris Johnson has warned that Russia is capable of undermining the democratic process and is up to "all sorts of dirty tricks".

His comments come as spy chiefs warn British political party leaders about the threat of Russian hacking at the next general election.

A senior Government source has confirmed to Sky News a cyber security summit will be held to discuss fears of interference from Moscow.

Officials at GCHQ, the UK's eavesdropping agency, fear Russian hackers could steal and leak internal emails or publish private databases of voters' political views, according to the Sunday Times.

The National Cyber Security Centre, which is part of GCHQ, offered in the letter to party leaders to help strengthen the parties' security systems, the newspaper said.

"You will be aware of the coverage of events in the United States, Germany and elsewhere reminding us of the potential for hostile action against the UK political system," the letter from chief executive Ciaran Martin reportedly stated.

"This is not just about the network security of political parties' own systems.

"Attacks against our democratic processes go beyond this and can include attacks on parliament, constituency offices, think tanks and pressure groups and individuals' email accounts."

Fears over potential Russian interference have heightened in recent months, amid allegations of meddling in the electoral processes of a number of countries.

US spy chiefs have accused Moscow of trying to influence November's presidential election.

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