As reported by The Times, the government has issued “burner phones” to all officials and ministers at the Cop27 climate conference in an attempt to stop the Egyptian hosts snooping on them. Activist groups and some of the nearly 200 countries attending the meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh have increased their security efforts compared with recent rounds of climate talks. The UK is taking the issue particularly seriously.
New phones and temporary Sim cards have been issued to more than a hundred officials and ministers at the talks. Grant Shapps, the business secretary, Thérèse Coffey, the environment secretary, and Baroness Vere of Norbiton, the shipping minister, are among those attending.
In the wake of high profile figures having their phones hacked and lives spied upon, burner phones are clearly the answer to stop being intrusively monitored at this level. However, this extreme measure is not something that should only be used at COP27 as politicians should consider this as standard procedure at other times as well.
Spyware such as Pegasus is constantly evolving and adapting to countermeasures put in place by Apple and Google so it is vital that those at risk take extra precautions where necessary and try to avoid being put in a vulnerable position. Burner phones along with recycled phone numbers may seem like an inconvenience to those using these devices but when used correctly and securely, they can act as the best defence against spyware and keep government information secret.