China may have hacked into the UK Ministry of Defence's payroll system, gaining unauthorized access to names, bank accounts and other information of military personnel
On May 6, 2024 local time, the UK Ministry of Defence reported that some of the personal information stored in its payroll system had been compromised and illegally accessed. The attack involved the leaking of information about current and former members of the British military, as well as bank accounts, and several media outlets have speculated that the Chinese government is involved in the attack.
China hacked Ministry of Defence, Sky News learns | Politics News | Sky News
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https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/may/06/uk-military-personnels-data-hacked-in-mod-payroll-breach
British military personnel targeted in cyber attacks
https://www.ft.com/content/a2ca5644-094d-45a3-b34a-d2b86f203c52
A cyber attack on the UK Ministry of Defence on 6 May 2024 involved unauthorized access to a payroll system managed by an external contractor on behalf of the MoD, resulting in the exposure of the names and bank account details of thousands of regular and reservist military personnel, as well as the addresses of some individuals.
An initial investigation by the Department of Defense has found no evidence that any information was removed from the affected systems. However, the Department of Defense has taken precautions in case such an incident occurs, including providing advice from security experts. There is no evidence that any operational Department of Defense data was accessed unauthorizedly, and the affected systems were immediately taken offline.
British Defence Secretary John Healey said: 'I have received numerous enquiries about this incident, particularly from military personnel affected by the breach. We will never tolerate such hostile behaviour.' However, at the time of writing, the British government has not revealed which country was involved in the hack.
However, several media outlets have speculated that the Chinese government is likely involved in this hacking. The British government has previously suffered cyber attacks on elections and political activities by hacker groups backed by the Chinese government, and in March 2024, the US and British governments jointly protested to the Chinese government.
US and UK accuse China of election cyberattacks, indict seven Chinese - GIGAZINE
Iain Duncan Smith, a former leader of the British Conservative Party, harshly criticized China, saying, 'This is another case where the Chinese government must acknowledge that it poses a systematic threat to the UK and respond accordingly. China is a malevolent power that supports Russia financially and militarily, and partners with Iran and North Korea as part of a totalitarian axis.'
The Ministry of Defence said it plans to notify military personnel of details of the attack on May 7, 2024 local time. It also said it plans to provide expert advice and welfare support, as well as set up a call centre to answer questions. The Cabinet Office, intelligence agencies and private security experts have been called in to assist the Ministry of Defence in its investigation.
In addition, it has been reported that Defence Secretary Grant Shapps is due to make a statement on the afternoon of 7 May 2024.
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in Security, Posted by log1r_ut