British ministers' phone numbers released to public after app gaffe
What's the story
Phone numbers and other personal details of senior ministers from Britain's Conservative Party were made public by an app security flaw yesterday, including those of top Brexiteers Michael Gove and Boris Johnson. Several top MPs reportedly received nuisance calls after their profiles were accessed on the official mobile application for the annual party conference, which kicks off this weekend. Here are more details.
Details changed
Boris Johnson's profile picture swapped for pornography
The security breach saw members of the public able to enter the politicians' profiles using just their email address to view and edit the data stored within. Former Foreign Secretary Johnson had his profile picture briefly swapped for pornography and his job title changed to a profane insult. Meanwhile, Environment Secretary Gove's picture was changed to media tycoon and his former employer, Rupert Murdoch.
Dawn Foster
A columnist for The Guardian first reported the flaw
Among the first to report the flaw was Dawn Foster, a columnist for daily The Guardian. "The Tory conference app allows you to log in as other people and view their contact details just with their email address, no emailed security links, and post comments as them," she tweeted. "They've essentially made every journalist, politician and attendee's mobile number public. Fantastic," she added.
Twitter Post
Here's Dawn Foster's tweet about leaked numbers
FFS, the Tory conference app allows you to login as other people and view their contact details just with their email address, no emailed security links, and post comments as them.
— Dawn Foster (@DawnHFoster) September 29, 2018
The breach
Conservative Party apologized for breach; ICO investigates the matter
A Conservative Party spokesperson apologized for the breach, saying the technical issue had "been resolved and the app is now functioning securely". The party's yearly gathering begins today in the city of Birmingham in Central England. Britain's data watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), said it was investigating the breach related to the app, which was developed by an Australian firm called Crown Comms.
Information
Conservative Party couldn't even be trusted in security matters: Opposition
The opposition Labour Party said the blunder showed the ruling party couldn't be trusted in security matters. "They can't even build a conference app that keeps the data of their members, MPs, and others attending safe and secure," said Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jon Trickett.