Boris Johnson, Penny Mordaunt and Rishi Sunak are posible contenders for the keys to No 10
(Picture: ES composite)The Tory party chairman has insisted any online membership vote to choose a new leader will be “secure” — just months after the process was revamped over hacking concerns.
Sir Jake Berry declined to give details about the safeguards in place but said he was “satisfied” there would not be any cyber security issues in the contest to replace Liz Truss.
Questioned on safety concerns over the binding online vote, Sir Jake said: “Without going into the security measures we will take... we are satisfied that the online voting system will be secure.”
He added that “all efforts would be made” to reach members who did not have access to the internet.
In the previous Tory leadership race, party members were initially told they could vote by post and amend their decision online until the system was reformed in early August.
The National Cyber Security Centre, which is part of GCHQ, warned that the process was vulnerable to interference, forcing the party to delay sending out ballot slips.
Those opting to cast their vote online had to submit a single-use code and answer security questions.
Sir Jake confirmed that a membership vote would not take place if only one candidate had reached the nomination threshold of 100 MPs by Monday.
In the last election the original process left open the possibility that cyber hackers could change a large number of votes online near the end of the contest. Similarly, someone who voted by post and uploaded a picture of their ballot could be vulnerable to their vote being changed online if their code was visible.
The need for a change to the voting process on security grounds was seen as embarrassing for Conservative Party headquarters.
The decision came after weeks of discussion between Tory party figures, national security cyber experts and the company producing the ballot papers for the race.
