How our pro-Brexit group was hacked by Russia

Britain is not at war with Russia but in cyberspace Russian activity against Ukraine and its allies is unrestrained, as I have recently found. Indeed, it is flattering 18 years after my retirement as head of MI6 to be still considered a worthwhile target of a cyber-attack by the Kremlin.

The story of how I and a small group of pro-Brexit individuals were hacked by the Russian state and accused of plotting to overthrow the British government begins in 2017. A number of citizens, concerned that the Brexit vote of 2016 was being subverted, met in a pub to see whether they could do something about it. As a joke, they nicknamed this ‘Operation Surprise’ after the pub we were in. You might think this was a perfect example of grassroots democracy – except that nothing came of it, and the little group never met again.

However, some of the people were involved in other grassroots groups, including the website Briefings for Brexit, which is funded by public donations and run on a shoestring.