UK Foreign Office victim of cyber-attack in October, says Chris Bryant | Cybercrime
Minister Chris Bryant said the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was hacked in October.
Bryant, business secretary in Keir Starmer’s government, told Sky News the risk of a cyber attack was low to “any individual”.
Details of the attack were revealed in a report published Friday. Sun It was claimed that a Chinese hacker group was behind the cyber attack.
However, Bryant told broadcasters it was “not clear” who carried out the attack and cautioned against speculation. Bryant told Sky News: “There has definitely been a hack at FCDO and we’ve been aware of it since October.”
“And just like you were going to report on the cyberattack at JLR earlier this year [Jaguar Land Rover] It’s in Marks & Spencer and I think it was in the British Library at the beginning of last year; These are all really important things for us to address, be aware of and prevent wherever possible.
“I think some of the reports are more speculation than true.”
Bryant said: “It usually takes quite a long time for the investigation to get to this point. We were able to close the gap very quickly. “My understanding is that there was a technical issue at one of our sites and we are pretty confident that the risk of any individual actually being affected by this is low.
“I know some reports have said various things could potentially happen. I think that’s more speculation than helpful. So I don’t want to be fearmongering about it. We’ve been through it. And it’s not entirely clear where this is coming from. I also know everyone is speculating about it. It’s not entirely clear either.”
Asked if China was behind the attack, Bryant said, “It’s not entirely clear.”
Sun named Storm 1849 as the Chinese cyber gang responsible for the attack and said it was understood the attack likely involved tens of thousands of visa details.
The group “has been accused of targeting politicians and groups critical of the Chinese government,” the newspaper said.
A government spokesman told the Guardian: “We are working to investigate a cyber incident. We take the security of our systems and data extremely seriously.”
