The UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has allegedly suffered a massive data breach following a recent cyberattack campaign by state-sponsored hackers. There are reports that personal records including the names and bank statements of employees have been exposed.
Per Sky News, who first reported the data breach, it is believed that Chinese state-affiliated hackers made at least two attempts to compromise MoD employees.
The hackers were able to gain access to the payroll system containing both current personnel and veterans. This enabled the attackers to get employees’ information. The contractor handling the payroll was not part of the main MoD system and was not affected by the hack. The contractor system has since been taken down for review.
To ease employees’ concerns, the MoD has assured that all salaries will be paid this month.
The MoD has been investigating to understand the extent of the recent hack. The UK’s Parliament is expected to be briefed on the attack later today.
This is not the first time that Chinese state-sponsored hackers have targeted the UK. The government previously blamed China for two cyber attacks targetting the UK’s Electoral Commission and individual Members of Parliament. These claims sparked heated debates over the next course of action with some MPs calling for stringent actions to be taken against the Chinese government.
The Chinese government later refuted these claims arguing that they had no “interest or need to meddle in the UK’s internal affairs.”
The UK-China relationship has recently become murky waters. This new development is expected to further strain the relationship and increase tension between the two countries.
This is a developing story, we’ll update the post as more information becomes available.
