Russian hackers are suspected of leaking sensitive British military and defense equipment on the dark web, including information about a nuclear submarine base and a chemical weapons lab.
- Data on HMNB Clyde base and Porton Down weapons lab leaked
- Hacker group LockBit was also behind a cyberattack on the Royal Mail
By George Odling, Crime Correspondent
Update: 3:27 a.m. EDT, September 4, 2023
Sensitive military and defense equipment has been stolen by suspected Russian hackers and leaked onto the internet.
Thousands of pages of data on the HMNB Clyde nuclear submarine base, the Porton Down chemical weapons laboratory and a GCHQ listening post were reportedly posted on the dark web after the hack.
Information about a site specializing in cyber defense and some high security UK prisons was also stolen in the raid on Zaun, a supplier of fencing for maximum security sites.
The latest hack, which follows a massive data breach at Scotland Yard earlier this month and another breach of information about officers in Northern Ireland, was carried out by hacker group LockBit, at the origin of a cyberattack on the Royal Mail Group in January. , reported the Sunday Mirror.
MPs warned that any information that could provide security intelligence to enemies of the UK was extremely worrying. A defense source said the hack was taken “very seriously”, but no stolen information posed a real threat to national security.
Sensitive military and defense equipment was stolen by suspected Russian hackers and leaked onto the internet (file image)
LockBit – which many cybersecurity experts say has members in Russia – is one of the most dangerous hacker gangs in the world, with suspects on the FBI’s most wanted list. He attacked West Midlands-based Zaun last month, it has been reported.
Documents stolen from the company, which supplied security barriers at the 2012 London Olympics, include an order report for equipment for the GCHQ communications complex in Bude, Cornwall.
The leak also includes information about security equipment at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, where the MQ-9 Reaper attack drone squadron is based, and Cawdor Barracks, which has specialist electronic warfare regiments.
Documents relating to high-security prisons, including Category A prisons at Long Lartin in Worcestershire and HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire, were also stolen.
Labor MP Kevan Jones, who sits on the Commons Defense Committee, told the Sunday Mirror: “This could be very damaging to the security of some of our most sensitive sites.
“The government must explain why this company’s computer systems were so vulnerable. »
The Dstl high containment laboratory building at Porton Down in Salisbury, Wiltshire
Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood, Chairman of the Defense Committee, asked: “How can we better defend ourselves against Russian-backed interference, arguably linked to our stance in support of Ukraine?
“This is another example of how conflict is no longer confined to the traditional battlefield, it now includes the digital realm and places ever greater demands on the security apparatus. »
A Zaun spokesperson told the Sunday Mirror: “Zaun is the victim of a sophisticated cyber attack and has taken all reasonable steps to mitigate any attack on our systems. »
A government spokesperson said: “We do not comment on security matters. »
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