Voting by members of the British Conservative Party to elect the next prime minister has been postponed after the GCHQ Spy Agency warns that Cyber hackers can change people’s ballots, Telegraph reports on Tuesday. There is no special threat from hostile countries, and the suggestions are more general and about the process of voting and vulnerability, added the report.
As a result of concerns, the conservative party has been forced to leave plans to allow members to change their votes for the next leader later in the contest, according to Telegraph. Post ballots have not yet been issued for around 160,000 party members who have now been warned that they can arrive until August 11, the report added. Previous ballots will be sent out of Monday, Telegraph reports.
Former Finance Minister Rishi Sung and Foreign Minister Liz Truss compete in the leadership contest to replace Boris Johnson as the next British Prime Minister. Truss leads in a poll among members of the conservative party, who will decide who is the next prime minister on September 5 after weeks of voting.
The Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ) gathered communication from all over the world to identify and interfere with threats to England. A spokesman for the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), who is part of GCHQ, said that they gave advice to the conservative party.
“Defending the democratic process and the British election is a priority for NCSC and we are working with all parliamentary political parties, local authorities and parliamentary members to provide guidelines and support for cyber security,” NCSC spokesman told Reuters. “As you expect from the British National Cyber Security Authority, we give advice to the conservative party about security considerations for online leadership voting,” the spokesman added.