The United Kingdom is suspecting China after a cyberattack at the Defence Ministry exposed thousands of payroll data of the UK Armed Forces. As per Sky News, the British Defence Ministry has stated that sensitive information to service personnel and veterans such as their names and bank details may have been compromised.
UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps is expected to brief MPs on Tuesday regarding the situation and the scale of the information which has been exposed. The government has further suspected that the hackers were present in the system for some time, possibly weeks.
"The defence secretary will make a planned statement to the House of Commons this afternoon setting out the multi-point plan to support and protect personnel," a spokesperson from the Defence Ministry told The Guardian.
While the UK government has not named any countries, China has been suspected due to its involvement in previous cyber attacks. Following the cyberattack, the Defence system has been shut down for investigation and review.
In 2021, Chinese actors have hacked the Electoral Commission and ministers held China responsible for the attack in March.
As per the UK Government, the attackers had gained access to electoral registers and broken into its emails and control systems.
Ahead of the Defence Secretary's briefing, the Chinese Embassy in London has denied any interference in the internal affairs of the United Kingdom.
"China has always upheld the principle of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs. China has neither the interest nor the need to meddle in the internal affairs of the UK," stated a spokesperson for the embassy.
Furthermore, a spokesperson from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has refutes the UK's claims as "utter nonsense".
“The remarks by relevant British politicians are utter nonsense. China has always firmly opposed and cracked down on all types of cyberattacks," stated Lin Jian.
