‘Everyone stay Zen’: Malcolm Turnbull tells fellow MPs prank texts were not a hack

MALCOLM Turnbull has told MPs their phones were not hacked after activists bombarded them with texts, suggesting more secure apps for private exchanges.

International Women's Day 2015

MALCOLM Turnbull has reassured less tech-savvy MPs that their mobiles have not been hacked, after they were bombarded with prank text messages.

Cabinet ministers George Brandis and Greg Hunt are among the Coalition figures targeted after word spread on Twitter that MPs’ iPhones could be reached directly through iMessage.

Activists flooded politicians’ phones with messages protesting against the government’s planned data retention measures and climate change policies.

The Communications Minister and other MPs reportedly used the app Wickr for secret conversations around support for Tony Abbott and the Liberal leadership crisis.

Mr Turnbull today sought to diffuse the situation by giving an impromptu cyber security lesson to his colleagues at Parliament House. “Everyone should be calm and Zen,” said the Communications Minister.

Spam messages did not mean the phones of MPs had been compromised, he added. “That may get you a lot of messages you weren’t welcoming or didn’t anticipate, but it doesn’t involve hacking,” he said.

But he warned that everyone should be alert to security and follow basic rules, including avoiding opening unknown attachments.

Mr Turnbull also explained that text messaging was an insecure form of communicating because messages were not encrypted in transit or on the telco’s server.

Mr Turnbull advised the Cabinet to have private conversations via messaging apps rather than texts, since these can be safer.

He recommended “over the top” messaging apps including WhatsApp, Wickr and Threema as alternatives.

Wickr is a selfdestructing service described as “Snapchat for grown-ups”. On Monday, there were reports Mr Turnbull had been using the secretive app to communicate with colleagues over leadership issues.

The app sells itself on a guarantee of metadata-free messages and anonymity, and has been described by its founders as a tool for “very high tension situations, where if information gets out ahead of time, people could get hurt.” It was reportedly used by Mr Turnbull, Scott Morrison and other MPs including Alex Hawke to discuss the Liberal leadership crisis and “movement in numbers” around support for Tony Abbott.

The former journalist also played down concerns data retention laws will harm investigative reporting and discourage whistleblowers.

Wickr’s selfdestruct system is described as “Snapchat for grown-ups”.