China hack exposes details of 270,000 forces personnel

A hacking attack on the British military by China was massive in scale, with 270,000 serving personnel, as well as reservists and veterans, from all three services affected.

- KIM SENGUPTA

The Special Forces have not been caught up in the breach, as they use a different, more secure system, but it remains unclear whether members of the Intelligence Corps, part of the army, are among those whose personal details may have been taken.

It is believed the hacking operation has been going on for around three weeks but was discovered last week after investigators started tracking “a pattern of unusual activity”.

The missing information includes identities and bank details and in a few thousand cases, addresses and national insurance numbers. There is no evidence, at present, that the data had been exploited, but service personnel will be offered advice on monitoring their accounts.

“There are indications that a malign actor has compromised the armed forces payment network,” prime minister Rishi Sunak told reporters during a visit to a football academy in London yesterday.