Hack on British charity countering Russian disinformation probed by NCA

A cyber attack on a charity that received Government funding for an initiative to tackle Russian disinformation is being investigated by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

The UK-based Institute For Statecraft, which received £2 million this financial year, said there was an investigation into the “theft of data” from it’s Integrity initiative and it had removed all content from its website.

A statement on the organisation’s website said it believed the attack was an attempt to “undermine” its attempts to counter the threat to European democracies.

Sky News reported Whitehall sources had suggested the Russian military intelligence service, the GRU, was suspected of being behind the hack.

The home page of The Institute for Statecraft, showing a message following a suspected cyber attack on the website (Institute for Statecraft/PA)
The home page of The Institute for Statecraft, showing a message following a suspected cyber attack on the website (Institute for Statecraft/PA)

An NCA spokeswoman said: “We can confirm we are conducting a criminal investigation into a suspected cyber attack against the Institute for Statecraft (IFS) and the subsequent release of information.

“As our investigation is ongoing, we cannot comment further at this time.”

The spokeswoman refused to confirm the GRU was a suspect.

A message on the institute’s website appealed for information.

NCA statement on the Institute of Statecraft cyber attack: pic.twitter.com/3N1L3vhN3l

— NationalCrimeAgency (@NCA_UK) March 6, 2019

It said: “All content has been temporarily removed from this site, pending an investigation into the theft of data from the Institute for Statecraft and its programme, the Integrity Initiative.

“Initial findings indicate that the theft was part of a campaign to undermine the work of the integrity initiative in researching, publicising and countering the threat to European democracies from disinformation and other forms of hybrid warfare.

“The website will be relaunched shortly. In the meantime, we expect to be able to publish an analysis of the hack and its significance in the near future.

“We are keen to trace both the source of the hack and the use to which our data – some genuine, some falsified – has been put.”

Questions were raised about the organisation after reports Foreign Office money was used in a “smear campaign against Jeremy Corbyn”, which were categorically denied by a minister.

Sir Alan Duncan revealed in December that the Institute for Statecraft was hacked (PA)
Sir Alan Duncan revealed in December that the Institute for Statecraft was hacked (PA)

Amid calls for an independent inquiry into the integrity initiative, Europe minister Sir Alan Duncan said the claims were “wholly untrue”.

Responding to an urgent question in the House of Commons in December last year, he said: “The Institute for Statecraft is an independent UK-based charity whose work seeks to improve governance and enhance national security.

“It runs a project called the integrity initiative, which is working to counter disinformation overseas by bringing together groups of experts to analyse and discuss the problem posed by Russian disinformation.

“The Government are funding this initiative with nearly £2 million this financial year.

“That funding covers its activity outside the UK and it does not fund any activity within the UK, nor does it fund the management of the integrity initiative’s social media account.

“Recent reports that Foreign Office funding has been used to support party political activity in the UK are therefore wholly untrue.”

There was anger from Labour MPs that a Twitter account associated with the initiative had retweeted negative articles about their party and its leader.

When accused of a misuse of public funds by shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry, Sir Alan replied: “The Institute for Statecraft was hacked several weeks ago and numerous documents were published and amplified by Kremlin news channels.”

On the social media activity, he said the initiative’s UK arm has “some automatic retweeting of stories that relate to Russia” and they have been “judged to be no more than non-partisan repetition”.

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