The names, addresses, and bank information of serving and retired military people were made public.
There are allegations that China has hacked the payroll system that is utilized by the Ministry of Defense in the United Kingdom. According to reports from the BBC and Sky News, the major data breach compromised the personal information of a number of individuals, including veterans and active military personnel. The information is mostly comprised of full names and bank data; however, in certain instances, it may also include personal addresses.
A more comprehensive update should be provided to members of parliament today by Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, who is already in the process of notifying those who have been affected. There is a high probability that he will present a strategy for safeguarding the information of anyone whose data was compromised. This month, it is anticipated that all salaries would be paid as of the customary.
China’s foreign minister issued a statement in which he stated that his country “firmly opposes and fights all forms of cyber attacks” and that it “rejects the use of this issue politically to smear other countries.” Nevertheless, this is not the first occasion that the United Kingdom and China have disagreed over matters of national security. As reported by the BBC at the time, in March, the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Oliver Dowden, made the accusation that China was responsible for a hacking attempt on the Electoral Commission in August of 2021. TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese technology giant ByteDance, was likewise removed from all government devices in the United Kingdom in March of 2023, citing the need for preventive measures.