The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is currently investigating reports that sensitive military documents have been stolen by Russian hackers and subsequently published on the dark web.
According to a report in the Mail on Sunday, the compromised files, found on a section of the internet accessible only through specialized software, contain details pertaining to eight Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy bases, in addition to the names and email addresses of MoD personnel.
Dodd Group, a maintenance and construction contractor, has confirmed that it was the victim of a ransomware attack and is treating the allegations with the utmost seriousness.
In a released statement, the MoD stated that it is “actively investigating the 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,” the statement continued.
The Mail on Sunday reported the documents contain information regarding several sensitive RAF and Navy bases, including RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, which houses the US Air Force’s F-35 fighter jets.
A representative for Dodd Group stated: “We can confirm that the Dodd Group recently experienced a ransomware incident whereby an unauthorised third-party gained temporary access to part of our internal systems.”
“We took immediate steps to contain the incident, swiftly secure our systems and engaged a specialist IT forensic firm to investigate what happened.”
“We are taking these claims extremely seriously and are working hard to validate this.”
This incident follows a series of high-profile data breaches affecting the MoD.
In August, it was revealed that the personal data of thousands of Afghans who were brought to the UK for safety was exposed following a data breach at an MoD sub-contractor.
Last year, the personal information of an undisclosed number of active UK military personnel was compromised in a significant data breach.
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Ahmad, who is now in West Yorkshire, says family in Afghanistan are at “high risk” due to the leak.