A new website has popped up called Very English Coop d’Etat, publishing what it claims are private emails from pro-Brexit leadership in the UK in an attempt to gin up conspiracy theories around the country’s split from the European Union.
Both UK foreign intelligence and Google’s cybersecurity team confirmed that Russian cyberattack group Cold River is behind the campaign, according to Reuters.
Steve Huntley, with Google’s Threat Analysis Group, said that this campaign has “clear technical links” to other Cold River disinformation campaigns, according to the report.
Victims of the leaks include former MI6 spy agency head Richard Dearlove, public Brexit supporter Gisela Stuart, and historian Robert Toombs, according to the report, who say their accounts were breached by Russian government actors.
Reuters added that this incident is the second time since 2020 that Moscow-backed cyberattackers have stolen and leaked private emails from British national officials.
