LONDON (AP) — A significant data breach has occurred at a payroll system used by the U.K. defense ministry, leading to the exposure of the names and bank details of numerous serving British soldiers, sailors, and air force members, officials confirmed on Tuesday.
The breach took place at a third-party payroll system that stores bank details of all serving armed forces personnel and some veterans. In a few instances, addresses may also have been compromised. Cabinet minister Mel Stride stated that authorities acted swiftly to take the affected database offline. Thus far, investigators have found no evidence indicating that data have been extracted.
The Ministry of Defense announced that Defense Secretary Grant Shapps would address the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon, presenting a comprehensive plan to support and safeguard personnel. The ministry refrained from commenting on reports from Sky News and the BBC suggesting that Chinese hackers are suspected of carrying out the cyberattack. Stride clarified to Sky that “we are not saying that at this precise moment.”
British media outlets reported that while the government plans to attribute the breach to “hostile and malign actors,” it will not disclose the country it believes is responsible. In response to these reports, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed opposition to all forms of cyberattacks and disapproved of “the use of cybersecurity issues to smear other countries for political purposes deliberately.”
Earlier in March, both Britain and the United States accused hackers linked to the Chinese government of targeting U.S. officials, journalists, corporations, pro-democracy activists, and the U.K.’s election watchdog in a series of “malicious” cyberattacks. Subsequently, the two countries imposed sanctions on several individuals, and the U.S. charged seven alleged hackers, all believed to be residing in China.