Ministry of Defence has been 'hacked by China'
- MPs are set to be told about the massive data breach tomorrow
The Chinese state has hacked the Ministry of Defence, it has been reported tonight.
It is understood that a quarter of a million people have been impacted by the breach which targeted service personnel.
MPs are set to be told about the massive data breach – which targeted service personnel – tomorrow after it was reportedly discovered in recent days.
The government has not named the country involved, but Sky News understands it to be China.
The cyberattack was on a payroll system with current service personnel as well as a number of officials and veterans. Their names and bank details are amongst the information that has been exposed.
The Chinese state has hacked the Ministry of Defence, it has been reported tonight (file image)
Embarrassingly it comes as Chinese President Xi Jinping met with France’s President Emmanuel Macron today ahead of an official state dinner
China stands accused of making two or three attempts to attack MoD employees.
The MoD are said to be hopeful that serving personnel will not be concerned about their safety. Those impacted by the data breach will be given advice and support tomorrow.
The contractor system is not connected to the main MoD computer systems and has been taken down with a review launched.
All salaries were paid at the last payday, with no issues expected at the next one at the end of this month, although there may be a slight delay in the payment of expenses in a small number of cases.
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The MoD is said to have worked on the issue intensively over the last 72 hours to figure out how much data was exposed during the hack. It is understood that investigations have not shown any data to have been taken so far.
Up to 250,000 people could be impacted by the breach with their names and bank details amongst the information that has been compromised.
The identification of Special Forces soldiers – who are entitled to lifelong anonymity – has not been compromised according to defence sources.
The country’s President Xi Jinping is currently on a two-day state visit to France – his first visit to Europe since 2019.
Meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday, President Xi called for a ‘worldwide truce’ during the Olympic Games this summer.
The incident risks dissuading other countries with challenging relationships with China from sharing sensitive intelligence with the UK.
It comes less than two months after Chinese state-affiliated actors were blamed by the government for two ‘malicious’ cyberattack campaigns in the UK.
The two incidents involved an attack on the Electoral Commission in 2021 as well as targeted attacks against MPs sceptical of China.
It comes less than two months after Chinese state-affiliated actors were blamed by the government for two ‘malicious’ cyberattack campaigns in the UK (file image)
In a speech made in the commons last month, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden confirmed that the Chinese ambassador would be summoned to ‘account for China’s conduct in these incidents’.
He also announced that the UK – alongside international partners including the US – would be issuing sanctions against the Chinese government.
Shadow defence secretary John Healey said: ‘So many serious questions for the Defence Secretary on this, especially from Forces personnel whose details were targeted.
‘Any such hostile action is utterly unacceptable. Parliament will expect a full Commons statement tomorrow.’
MailOnline has contacted the Ministry of Defence for comment.
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