The personal cell phone numbers of three members of the British government were published online along with their names. Among them is the country’s defense minister, Wes Streeting.
This revelation came after Politico reported that Prime Minister Andy Burnham had fallen victim to a scam— he had responded to messages from someone posing as Susan Wiles, White House Chief of Staff under Donald Trump, before suspecting the contact was fake and ending the conversation.
After checking the list of government officials, Politico found the phone numbers of Stritting, Justice Minister Alex Norris, and Minister for Northern Ireland Chris Bryant published online. The publication does not specify where exactly these numbers can be found to avoid further security risks.
All three ministers declined to provide official comments. The online reference to Stritting’s number has already been removed, and officials are working to remove the other two.
Ministers are issued secure government devices for carrying out their official duties, particularly for high-risk roles such as defense, and are expected to use them for non-personal communications.
A government spokesperson stated: “The government has robust procedures in place to ensure the security of confidential information.”
However, Prerana Joshi, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), noted that the public availability of Cabinet ministers’ direct phone numbers poses a risk, warning that the numbers could be spoofed and used to call other people at a time when the United Kingdom is facing “an elevated threat level” globally.
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