<\/div>\n

The UK Ministry of Defense disclosed a data breach at a third-party payroll system that exposed data of armed forces personnel and veterans.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The UK Ministry of Defense disclosed a data breach impacting a third-party payroll system that exposed data of approximately 272,000 armed forces personnel and veterans.<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ministry of Defence revealed that a malign actor gained access to part of the Armed Forces payment network, which is an external system completely separate to MOD\u2019s core network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps told House of Commons that the impacted system is not connected to the main military HR system.<\/gwmw><\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UK Ministry of Defense is reviewing the operations of the impacted contractor and announced that appropriate measures will be taken. <\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The compromised information includes the personal data of regular and reserve personnel and some recently retired veterans. The malicious actor gained access to names and bank details, and, in a smaller number of cases, addresses of the impacted personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UK government did not publicly attribute the attack, however, the BBC reported that UK ministers suspected China was responsible<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Grant Shapps told MPs the government had reason to believe the hack “was the suspected work of a malign actor” – and the BBC understands that ministers suspect China was responsible.” states the BBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Shapps publicly criticized the contractor, stating there was “evidence of failings” in the management of the breached system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor reasons of national security, we can\u2019t release further details of the suspected cyber activity behind this incident,\u201d Mr. Shapps added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China denied any involvement in the attack and labeled the accusation as a “fabricated and malicious slander”.<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We urge the relevant parties in the UK to stop spreading false information, stop fabricating so-called China threat narratives, and stop their anti-China political farce,” a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in the UK said.<\/em><\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Labour’s shadow defence secretary John Healey speculated that the external contractor operating the breached system was Shared Services Connected Ltd (SSCL).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SSCL is a joint venture between the British government and a private tech firm, it provides services to the Home Office, Cabinet Office and Ministry of Justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs<\/strong><\/a> and Facebook<\/strong><\/a> and Mastodon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pierluigi Paganini<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(<\/strong>SecurityAffairs<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u2013<\/strong>\u00a0hacking,\u00a0UK Ministry of Defense)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UK Ministry of Defense disclosed a data breach at a third-party payroll system that exposed data of armed forces personnel and veterans. The UK Ministry of Defense disclosed a data breach impacting a third-party payroll system that exposed data of approximately 272,000 armed forces personnel and veterans. The Ministry of Defence revealed that a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36919,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3323,4337,5],"tags":[182,4112,9508,9506,10918,687,841,1533,15071],"class_list":["post-162840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-data-breach","category-hacking","tag-data-breach","tag-hacking","tag-hacking-news","tag-information-security-news","tag-it-information-security","tag-pierluigi-paganini","tag-security-affairs","tag-security-news","tag-uk-ministry-of-defense"],"yoast_head":"\n