Russian hackers struck numerous UK military bases and stole classified information via a third party group amid ongoing breaches of the country’s Armed Forces
Vladimir Putin’s mob of hackers hit eight UK military bases and posted Ministry of Defence (MoD) staff names and emails on the dark web.
Cybercriminals accessed he files by hacking a maintenance and construction contractor used by the MoD. The breach has been branded as “catastrophic” after the hackers bypassed the Armed Forces cyber defences by going through the Dodd Group.
The MoD is now investigating the massive breach that is suspected of having been carried out by the Russian group Lynx. Affected sites include RAF Lakenheath, in Suffolk, where US Air Force F-35 stealth jets are located alongside suspected nuclear bombs.
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The hacking comes after a warning from the National Cyber Security Centre last week. The warning raised concerns about the high number of hacking attacks in the UK, which reached record highs with 204 happening in the year up to September, according to MailOnline.
A Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesperson said: “We take a robust and proactive approach to cyber threats that could pose risks to national interests. We are actively investigating claims that information relating to the MoD has been published on the Dark Web.
“To safeguard sensitive operational information, we will not comment any further on the details.”
Personal data of service personnel and veterans, including names, bank details and some addresses, was in the payroll system which was accessed in the large-scale hack, revealed last year.
Up to 272,000 service personnel may have been affected. The same year, the Government covertly set up the Afghanistan Response Route for people in the country whose details were leaked “in error” by a defence official in February 2022.
Russia was previously accused of launching cyber attacks on a Spanish Air Force plane which had the country’s minister for defence on board. The incident took place this morning as the plane flew over the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on its way to Lithuania with Margarita Robles.
She had been due to meet with the Lithuanian defence minister Dovile Sakaliene, according to the Spanish government’s itinerary.