Foreign Office hacked: China accused of stealing secret files

A hacking group affiliated with China has allegedly stolen confidential files and data from the Foreign Office.

According to The Sun , a group known as Storm-1849, aka UAT4356, breached government servers in October and were able to get away with personal information.

Trade Minister Sir Chris Bryant confirmed the news, adding that the breach was closed “very quickly” once it was discovered.

Although The Sun speculates that the information accessed “possibly” included “tens of thousands of visa details” - and that the hack was “hushed up” - Bryant said no individual, including people applying for visas, was put at risk by the incident.

“There certainly has been a hack,” he told Times Radio .

“We are very confident that, in the investigation that we have done so far, that no individual will have been harmed or compromised by what has happened.”

He later told Sky News that the flaw came from “a technical issue in one of our sites,” and was plugged “fairly quickly.”

However industry watchers, including Dan Panesar, chief revenue officer at Certes, have pointed out that the risk “isn’t defined by how quickly a gap was closed, but by what data was accessible during that window.”

The Sun points the finger at Storm-1849 as the culprit. Where the outlet got that information from is unknown.

Storm-1849 is a state-affiliated threat actor responsible for the ArcaneDoor attack last year, which targeted government networks worldwide.

It also has form in using social engineering to attack politicians and political staff.

Bryant declined to confirm the China link, and rebutted The Sun ’s claim that the incident was kept quiet.

“I’m not able to say whether it’s directly related to Chinese operatives or indeed the Chinese state - it’s not entirely clear where this has come from.”

He added, “We have been engaged in an investigation since October.

“It does take some time to get to the bottom of what has happened.”

He also said the original report, which claimed visa applications "may have” been compromised, was speculation.

Keir Starmer is due to visit China at the end of January, the first British Prime Minister to do so since Theresa May in 2018.