<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nIt’s a miracle if British MPs were not involved in major scandals due to account takeovers, because 68% of searched email addresses were found on the dark web, including senior figures from both the government and the opposition. MPs\u2019 email addresses were exposed a total of 2,110 times on the dark web, the researchers noticed that the most frequently targeted MP experiencing up to 30 breaches. On average, breached MPs had their details show up in 4.7 breaches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The member of the European Parliament experienced fewer breaches compared to their British counterparts, but nearly half of the emails searched were found on the dark web. Out of 309 MEPs exposed, 92 were involved in 10 or more leaks. EU politicians had their email addresses exposed 2,311 times, along with 161 plaintext passwords. This raises concerns, as the European Parliament has increasingly become a target of state-sponsored attacks and acknowledges its lack of preparedness.<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Impacted politicians have used their official email addressed to create accounts several sites, including LinkedIn, Adobe, Dropbox, Dailymotion, petition websites, news services, and even, in a small number of cases, dating websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Even if a hostile takeover of one of these accounts won\u2019t grant an attacker (or foreign government) access to state secrets, it could reveal that politician\u2019s private communications or other sensitive data. Attackers could then use this information to phish or blackmail the politicians.” concludes the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n