UK Government

Summary

The UK government was hacked, a breach that minister Chris Bryant confirmed involved unauthorized access to Foreign Office systems and possibly tens of thousands of visa details. Bryant said he could not attribute the intrusion to Chinese operatives or the state, noting that media reports naming a group called Storm 1849 were speculative, while officials stated the vulnerability was quickly closed and posed low risk to individuals. The Foreign Office said it continued to investigate the cyber incident and emphasized that system security remains a top priority.

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Description

In October, the UK government was hacked. British trade department minister Chris Bryant confirmed the incident in December. The Sun newspaper reported that a Chinese cyber group, Storm 1849, had breached Foreign Office systems to access data. Bryant stated that there certainly had been a hack. He added that he was not able to say whether the hack was directly related to Chinese operatives or the Chinese state. The Sun named Storm 1849 as the responsible cyber gang. The report indicated that the breach possibly included tens of thousands of visa details.

Bryant described the media reporting around the incident as speculation. He said the government was continuing to investigate the breach. Bryant added that, at that stage, the government was fairly confident that there was a low risk any individual would be affected. He said they had managed to close the hole very quickly. Bryant characterised the breach as a technical issue in one of the government's sites. The Foreign Office said it had been working to investigate a cyber incident. A government spokesperson stated that they take the security of their systems and data extremely seriously.

The incident at the Foreign Office followed two major cyber attacks on large British companies earlier in the year. Jaguar Land Rover was forced to shut down production for five weeks due to a hack. Marks & Spencer suspended online orders for six weeks as a result of a cyber attack. Prime Minister Keir Starmer had said earlier in December that China posed national security threats to Britain. He also defended his government's decision to step up engagement with the country. Starmer was due to visit Beijing in late January, according to sources.

Sources

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