Foreign Office hacked two MONTHS ago by 'Chinese cyber gang' that previously targeted ...

The Foreign Office's computer system was hacked earlier this year, reportedly by a Chinese cyber group, a minister confirmed today.

Business minister Sir Chris Bryant admitted government servers had been compromised in a cyber attack in October.

But he refused to confirm reports in the Sun that it was the work of the Chinese gang Storm 1849 group, which was named publicly in March 2024 in connection with cyber attacks on MPs and the Electoral Commission.

He also downplayed reports that visa data was stolen in the raid that was not made public at the time.

He told Times Radio: 'You just referred to potentially affecting thousands of visas. We are very confident that in the investigation that we've done so far, that nobody, no individual, will have been harmed or compromised by what has happened.

'There certainly has been a hack, I can say that, I'm not able to say whether it is directly related to Chinese operatives or indeed the Chinese state.'

A Government spokesperson said: 'We have been working to investigate a cyber incident. We take the security of our systems and data extremely seriously.'

Business minister Sir Chris Bryant admitted government servers had been compromised in a cyber attack in October.

But he refused to confirm reports in the Sun that it was the work of the Chinese gang Storm 1849 group, which was named publicly in March 2024 in connection with cyber attacks on MPs and the Electoral Commission.