- Chinese hackers targeted Downing Street phones from 2021 to 2024 in Salt Typhoon operation
- The hacking affected aides of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak, with ongoing risks reported
- Breaches were discovered in 2024, with US intelligence revealing global espionage by Beijing
Days after the British government approved China's plans to build its largest embassy in Europe in London, a report has claimed that Beijing hacked into the mobile phones of senior officers at Downing Street over the last several years. The Chinese hackers targeted the phones of some of the closest aides to Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak between 2021 and 2024, under the espionage operation known as Salt Typhoon.
While the full extent of the data compromised by Chinese hackers from Downing Street devices remains uncertain, there are concerns that the Salt Typhoon operation is still active, potentially exposing Sir Keir Starmer and his senior team.
According to a report in The Telegraph, there were many different hacking attacks on the phones of Downing Street staff, particularly during the tenure of Sunak, who served as the British prime minister from 2022 to 2024. A source with knowledge of the breach said it went "right into the heart of owning Street".
The Downing Street hack is part of a global espionage operation launched by Beijing to target multiple countries, particularly the members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.
The breaches date back to at least 2021, but intelligence agencies discovered them only in 2024. The US first blew the lid off the operation, stating that China gained access to sensitive data by infiltrating telecommunications companies around the world.
An FBI alert last year warned that the stolen data could provide Chinese intelligence services with the capability to identify and track their targets' communications and movements around the world.
Chinese Influence In UK
The revelation comes in the backdrop of Sir Keir departing for China later this week to secure trade and investment ties with Beijing. Sir Keir is the first British PM to visit China since Baroness May in 2018, with critics alleging that he was taking a soft stance on Chinese hostile activity in the hope of securing lucrative trade deals.
The approval for the Chinese embassy has also raised concerns that it may enable Beijing to eavesdrop on fibre-optic cables that are used by finance firms and travel underneath the area. British security officials have also warned that allowing China to build a much larger embassy would mean more Chinese spies in Britain as well as more diplomats, an assertion dismissed by the Chinese embassy in London.
