EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: It's the Online Jungle! Bear Grylls calls in IT experts after he is targeted by cyber beasts

Bear Grylls is used to fighting off poisonous snakes and wrestling alligators, but the television adventurer is now facing a very modern predator — computer hackers.

I can reveal the Chief Scout, who counts the Duchess of Cambridge among his friends, has been targeted by sophisticated cyber attackers trying to steal from him and damage his reputation and business.

The former Tory MP's son, who has attracted big names including former U.S. President Barack Obama and Hollywood stars Kate Winslet and Ben Stiller to appear on his show Running Wild With Bear Grylls, has been forced to bring in new security specialists to protect his television company, Natural Studios Productions.

Bear Grylls (pictured with Kate Winslet) is used to fighting off poisonous snakes and wrestling alligators, but the TV adventurer is now facing a very modern predator ¿ computer hackers

Bear Grylls (pictured with Kate Winslet) is used to fighting off poisonous snakes and wrestling alligators, but the TV adventurer is now facing a very modern predator — computer hackers

The Chief Scout, who counts the Duchess of Cambridge among his friends, has been targeted by cyber attackers trying to steal from him and damage his reputation (stock image)

The Chief Scout, who counts the Duchess of Cambridge among his friends, has been targeted by cyber attackers trying to steal from him and damage his reputation (stock image)

Details of the attacks are confirmed in a newly published report, which lists the risks and uncertainties facing his business. 

'The group is subject to increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks aimed at causing business disruption, capturing data for financial gain and reputational damage,' it says. 

'The group has strengthened controls and defences around this area of risk including additional security levels applied to IT systems, and remains vigilant to the increasing threat.'

Grylls, who has attracted former U.S. President Barack Obama (pictured) to appear on his show Running Wild With Bear Grylls, has been forced to bring in new security specialists

Grylls, who has attracted former U.S. President Barack Obama (pictured) to appear on his show Running Wild With Bear Grylls, has been forced to bring in new security specialists

Details were confirmed as the Eton-educated star, who once circumnavigated Britain on jet skis and crossed the Atlantic on a rigid inflatable dinghy, said the pandemic wiped £5.1 million from the value of his company. 

It saw earnings tumble from £8.3 million to £3.2 million and profits shrink £7.5 million to £1.8 million over the course of last year.

The previous year it had paid out dividends of more than £5 million, but there was no such windfall this year.

However, Grylls, 47, did receive payment of £405,000 in his role as a director.

 

SPICER GETS CHURCHILL'S LOOK OF APPROVAL 

Here's a painting that's definitely not fake, and must be worth a fortune.

Philip Mould unveiled a portrait of Sir Winston Churchill by Frank O. Salisbury that's never been seen in public before.

It was hung at the Fake Or Fortune host's gallery in London's Pall Mall to celebrate the launch of a history book by Tim Spicer, A Dangerous Enterprise: Secret War At Sea. 

Philip Mould unveiled a portrait of Sir Winston Churchill by Frank O. Salisbury that's never been seen in public before. It was hung to celebrate the launch of a history book by Tim Spicer

Philip Mould unveiled a portrait of Sir Winston Churchill by Frank O. Salisbury that's never been seen in public before. It was hung to celebrate the launch of a history book by Tim Spicer

Speaking at the party, Mould says: 'Because we have an educated upmarket and military orientated crowd, we thought Churchill could have a good look at Tim.'

Former Falklands veteran Spicer has written a gripping tale about a secret naval unit which was the most highly decorated of World War II.

 

One Tory MP seems to be auditioning for a Whitehall farce. 

I hear that Brendan Clarke-Smith, who won the 'Red Wall' seat of Bassetlaw, got trapped in a lift in Parliament this week. 

He was eventually freed by an engineer, almost an hour later, and admits: 'A lot of my colleagues were laughing and taking selfies. I used the word 'lift' in a debate today and we all had a bit of a giggle.' 

 

STONE'S GIRL AND ROYAL: LET'S SPEND THE NIGHT TOGETHER

Prince Charles's goddaughter, Princess Olympia of Greece and Denmark, and her friend and fellow model Ella Richards know how to party. 

But they also know how to look stylish the next morning.

Ella Richards, 25, cosied up to Princess Marie-Olympia of Greece and Denmark at the Mayfair launch party for Olympia's Glow skincare range

Ella Richards, 25, cosied up to Princess Marie-Olympia of Greece and Denmark at the Mayfair launch party for Olympia's Glow skincare range

And the next day they shared this photograph of them in bed together in a hotel wearing matching £130 pyjamas

And the next day they shared this photograph of them in bed together in a hotel wearing matching £130 pyjamas

Ella, 25, the granddaughter of hard-living Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, cosied up to the Princess at the Mayfair launch party for Olympia's Glow skincare range.

And the next day they shared this photograph of them in bed together in a hotel wearing matching £130 pyjamas. 

The only hint of the previous night's excesses were the dark glasses. 

 

GOLDSMITH 'KNOCKED OUT' BY CORONAVIRUS 

Despite jumping the queue for jabs here by getting vaccinated in the United Arab Emirates, financier Ben Goldsmith has still failed to avoid Covid.

The son of late billionaire Sir James Goldsmith reveals his whole family fell ill while on holiday in Sicily — after his teenage son apparently brought the virus back from a party.

'It knocked me out,' he tells me at an event for the Conservative Environment Network in Westminster. 

'Thank goodness I'm double jabbed. It knocked us all out.'

The brother of Environment Minister Zac avoided having to quarantine in a London hotel on return from the then red-listed Gulf State by flying home via Kenya with his family.

 

PIPPA LONGS TO GET BACK ON TRACK 

Pippa Middleton loves being a mother but admits that having two young children spelt doom for her intensive fitness regime.

The Duchess of Cambridge's sister, 38, who once raced 3,000 miles across America on a bicycle, says: 'Over the past two years, family life and motherhood has consumed my spare time and, unsurprisingly, the challenges I thrived on have taken a back seat.'

Pippa Middleton (pictured in June 2011) loves being a mother but admits that having two young children spelt doom for her intensive fitness regime

Pippa Middleton (pictured in June 2011) loves being a mother but admits that having two young children spelt doom for her intensive fitness regime

Pippa — who has a five-month-old daughter, Grace, and a son, Arthur, two — adds: 'My running has been more after babies and toddlers than crossing finish lines, which I'm fine with . . . for now.'

 

Theresa May's walking holidays seem to have dramatic consequences. 

The former Prime Minister — who hatched the idea of holding what turned out to be a disastrous General Election in 2017 after a hiking expedition with her husband, Philip — says their trips to the Swiss Alps have vividly brought home to her the effects of global warming. 

'We have walked around Rotenboden near the Gorner Glacier and over the years we have seen the glacier retreat at a remarkable rate,' she tells me at a Westminster event. 

'It's these personal experiences that bring home the reality of climate change.'

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