UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's old phone number has been leaked online in a major security breach, Express.co.uk reported. The breach was discovered when pranksters on social media posted audio of Mr Sunak's phone ringing and the Prime Minister's message in response. The number is the one the UK PM has used for many years, including while chancellor and during last year's leadership election.
When he came to power a year ago, he was given a new separate number. However, the leaked messages indicate that the number is still operational.
When asked about the breach, a Downing Street spokesman said: "We don't comment on security matters."
Meanwhile, a Tory MP on the home affairs committee said he was ''sure it is very inconvenient for him,'' but refused to call it a security breach.
''But I'm not sure it constitutes a security breach when thousands of work colleagues & friends probably had it already - as well as hostile intelligence agencies,'' the MP said.
Earlier this month, Mr. Sunak told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry he was unable to provide WhatsApp messages sent from the number because he failed to back them up and had changed phones several times.
In a statement to the Covid Inquiry, he said, ''Having changed my phone a number of times over the last three years, I do not have access to the WhatsApp messages that I sent or received during the relevant time, and neither were the messages backed up.''
This is not the first time a UK Prime Minister's phone number has been leaked.
Notably, Boris Johnson was also forced to change his phone number when he was prime minister after a similar security breach, as per a Guardian report. He changed his mobile number in April 2021 after it emerged that it had been available online for the last 15 years.
Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss's personal phone was also hacked by suspected agents working for Russian President Vladimir Putin when she was foreign minister. Those agents gained access to "top-secret details" of negotiations with international allies in addition to private messages exchanged with Truss's close friend Kwasi Kwarteng, who later became finance minister. The messages were also believed to have included discussions with senior international foreign ministers about the war in Ukraine, including details about arms shipments.
