Assurances sought over protecting Eurovision voting from possible Russian threat

Richard Wheeler, PA

Cybersecurity experts are expected to help protect Eurovision Song Contest voting from possible Russian interference, British MPs have heard.

Science and technology minister Paul Scully declined to comment on the details, but flagged the work of the UK's National Cyber Security Centre and said the aim was to keep “resilience in our voting process”.

Ukraine won last year’s competition but due to Russia's renewed invasion Liverpool will host this year.

Conservative MP Michael Fabricant told the UK's House of Commons: “Last year during the Eurovision Song Contest, Russian agents attempted to interfere with the voting that was being made for Ukraine.

“This year, of course, we’re hosting the Eurovision Song Contest.

“What is (the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology) doing to ensure that the integrity of the voting will be maintained?”

Mr Scully replied: “The government is always aware there are a number of possible threats to our systems and our events.

“I’m not able to discuss the details but the National Cyber Security Centre are world experts at understanding attacks and providing incident response for the most serious of attacks.

“We want to make sure that all organisations are aware so we can indeed keep that resilience in our voting process.”