5,000 soldiers sue over MoD payroll hack by Chinese hackers
Thousands of Armed Forces personnel are to launch legal action over their data being compromised by Chinese state hackers.
A highly embarrassing development for the Ministry of Defence saw soldiers’ names and banking details accessed in a cyber attack orchestrated by Beijing.
Those affected include people involved in highly sensitive UK security operations whose roles require anonymity.
The hacking incident, which took place earlier this year, shattered the security around their identities.
While the attack was revealed in May, lawyers believe it actually occurred in January or February, meaning victims were unaware of the breach for at least three months. Among those targeted were full-time serving personnel, reservists and veterans.
Thousands of Armed Forces personnel are to launch legal action over their data being compromised by Chinese state hackers (stock photo)
Adnan Malik, from data breach specialists Barings Law, said: ‘We have written to SSCL inviting them to settle this matter on behalf of our clients. The company was responsible for protecting the data of these individuals, some of whom serve in sensitive roles within His Majesty’s Armed Forces'
More than 5,000 of these men and women have now approached data breach specialists Barings Law – and more than 3,000 have signed up for a potential group action against business support company SSCL, which runs the MoD’s payroll.
Adnan Malik, from Barings Law, said: ‘We have written to SSCL inviting them to settle this matter on behalf of our clients. The company was responsible for protecting the data of these individuals, some of whom serve in sensitive roles within His Majesty’s Armed Forces.
‘In some cases, their roles require them to remain anonymous and their high-level security clearances are based on them remaining unknown. The hack jeopardised their anonymity.
‘SSCL and the Ministry of Defence need to ensure such an attack cannot be conducted again. Thousands of serving soldiers and veterans have been caused distress by how this has been handled.’
The incident was the latest cyber attack on the UK by China following its targeting of the Electoral Commission and campaigns targeting individual MPs.
But the apparent ease with which Chinese hackers broke into the system brought renewed attention to the UK’s vulnerability to such action by hostile states.
The Mail highlighted this week how the UK is unable to defend itself properly.
Cyber defence is a key aspect of Britain’s security infrastructure, which is facing a cut in expenditure if Labour forms the next government.
While the Conservatives have committed to increasing investment in the nation’s defences to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030, Labour has refused to match this pledge.
Hundreds of thousands of payments to former and serving personnel, including pensions, are processed each month by SSCL. It has also digitised 10 million individual military service records.
The MoD said: ‘Our people are our priority and we are providing personnel with specialist advice, guidance and support along with access to a commercial personal data monitoring service.’
SSCL said: ‘We continue to work closely with the MoD to investigate the incident fully. Investigations to date have found no evidence that any data has been removed.
‘This was an isolated incident. It is wrong to claim that SSCL became aware of the issue in January/February.’
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