‘It’s coming home!’ England fans may cheer next week in Qatar but there’s one thing Commons’ bosses don’t want coming back with them: malicious viruses that could put parliament’s internet system at risk. Security chiefs on the Westminster estate have issued strict guidance to those football fanatics heading off to the oil rich Arab country this week.
Messages have been posted on the Palace of Westminster’s intranet, warning staff that ‘as someone who works for parliament, the information stored on your devices is valuable and potentially of interest to malicious actors.’ Researchers and secretaries are urged to ‘not take any parliamentary-issued devices with you’ with disposable burner phones and new personal email accounts suggested instead for the trip. ‘A privacy filter on your personal laptop’ will also prevent ‘strangers looking at your screen when in a public place.’
On hotel, conference and public Wi-Fi hotspots ‘assume all activity will be monitored’, with access to the parliamentary network strongly discouraged. The more credulous Commons’ staff are warned to ‘be wary of any approaches via email or social media that seem suspicious or too good to be true’ with ‘electronic gifts’ like USB sticks, phones or chargers verboten too.
Given the propensity for various overexcitable staffers to become embroiled in minor security shenanigans, Mr S wonders just how many will end up following such advice. Especially given the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of an expensive laptop from the office of a senior backbencher in Portcullis House…
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