Politicians advised not to “govern by Whatsapp”

Ministers and civil servants are being advised not to discuss political affairs via Whatsapp, as they could be at risk of hacker targeting. In a letter to Labour, the cabinet secretary Simon Case revealed that new guidance had now been published, calling into question the use of personal phones to discuss governmental matters. In particular, the discussion of Covid contracts was criticised. The letter was issued in May and recommended security techniques such as using two-factor authentication – though this is nowhere near as strong as a decentralised password system.