UK MP’s Website Hit by Massive DDoS Attack Linked to China
Sir David Davis, the Conservative MP for Goole and Pocklington, revealed that his parliamentary website was targeted in a sustained cyberattack, which he alleges originated largely from China. The attack began last Thursday when malicious links were inserted into his site, redirecting visitors to Southeast Asian gambling pages. After the site was taken down and restored, it faced a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, flooding it with 142 million requests in 24 hours and consuming nearly 800GB of data.
Davis described the incident as "a direct interference with a Member of Parliament carrying out his duties" during a Commons address. While most of the traffic was traced to China, his office identified minor activity from other countries and is working with hosts to mitigate further disruptions.
Deputy Speaker Nus Ghani confirmed that MPs can seek security advice from the Parliamentary Security Department (PSD) for personal accounts and the Parliamentary Digital Service (PDS) for parliamentary systems, though details on preventative measures remain undisclosed. The attack underscores the growing threat of state-linked cyber interference targeting elected officials.
Source: https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/26058524.david-daviss-website-hit-suspected-cyber-attack/
House of Commons cybersecurity rating report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/house-of-commons
"id": "HOU1777367302",
"linkid": "house-of-commons",
"type": "Cyber Attack",
"date": "4/2026",
"severity": "60",
"impact": "2",
"explanation": "Attack limited on finance or reputation"{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': 'Website visitors',
'industry': 'Public Sector',
'location': 'United Kingdom',
'name': 'Sir David Davis (MP for Goole and '
'Pocklington)',
'type': 'Government (Parliamentary)'}],
'attack_vector': 'Malicious links, Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS)',
'date_detected': '2023-11-02',
'description': 'Sir David Davis, the Conservative MP for Goole and '
'Pocklington, revealed that his parliamentary website was '
'targeted in a sustained cyberattack, allegedly originating '
'largely from China. The attack began with malicious links '
'redirecting visitors to Southeast Asian gambling pages, '
'followed by a DDoS attack flooding the site with 142 million '
'requests in 24 hours and consuming nearly 800GB of data.',
'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': 'Allegations of state-sponsored '
'interference',
'operational_impact': 'Website taken down and restored, sustained '
'disruption',
'systems_affected': 'Parliamentary website'},
'initial_access_broker': {'entry_point': 'Malicious links inserted into '
'website'},
'investigation_status': 'Ongoing',
'motivation': 'Interference with parliamentary duties, possible '
'state-sponsored disruption',
'references': [{'source': 'Commons address by Sir David Davis'}],
'response': {'communication_strategy': 'Public disclosure in Commons address',
'containment_measures': 'Website taken down and restored',
'third_party_assistance': 'Hosts (unspecified)'},
'stakeholder_advisories': 'MPs can seek security advice from Parliamentary '
'Security Department (PSD) and Parliamentary '
'Digital Service (PDS)',
'threat_actor': 'State-linked (allegedly China)',
'title': 'UK MP’s Website Hit by Massive DDoS Attack Linked to China',
'type': 'DDoS Attack'}