Chinese hackers stole tens of thousands of secret files in major Foreign Office breach authorities hushed up
CHINESE hackers have accessed thousands of confidential documents and data in an unprecedented Foreign Office breach hushed up by authorities.
The Sun understands that Beijing-linked cyber gang Storm 1849 targeted government servers in October and accessed personal information, understood to possibly include tens of thousands of visa details.
Sign up for the newsletter
Thank you!
A Chinese hacking gang targeted government servers in October and accessed personal informationCredit: Alamy
Experts fear that stolen info from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, above, will be used for fraud and bribery activityCredit: Getty
Storm-1849 is a China-linked espionage outfit identified by Western agencies as part of Beijing’s state-aligned hacking apparatus – pictured President XiCredit: Getty
It has sparked major fears that stolen information from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) will be used for fraud and bribery activity.
The hack will also raise huge questions about how secure Government databases are from attacks by hostile states.
Labour wants to introduce digital ID cards.
One of the key arguments against the idea is that the data will be a “honeypot” for hackers.
CLASH OF TITANS
Who’d win a US & China war over Taiwan? US security doc reaches conclusion
SPY ‘SHAMBLES’
China spy trial collapsed after ‘shambolic’ evidence process, says probe
A government spokesperson said: “We have been working to investigate a cyber incident.
“We take the security of our systems and data extremely seriously.”
Storm-1849 is a China-linked espionage outfit identified by Western agencies as part of Beijing’s state-aligned hacking apparatus.
The group has been accused of targeting politicians, parliamentary staff and organisations critical of the Chinese government, using phishing emails and cloud access to harvest sensitive political information.
Storm-1849 was named publicly in March 2024 when the government formally blamed China for cyber-attacks on MPs and the Electoral Commission.
The UK’s election watchdog said it took three years and £250,000 to recover from the hack, which saw details of 40 million voters accessed by Beijing’s spies.
The latest hack comes as Sir Keir Starmer is due to make a controversial visit to China in late January.
No British PM has travelled to Beijing since Theresa May in 2018 – but Sir Keir is desperate to strengthen economic ties to boost growth.
Hanging over the trip are both the collapsed Chinese spy trial and a decision on whether to approve a new communist party “super embassy”.
The development at Royal Mint Court, near the Tower of London, would sit above a huge web of fibre optic cables carrying information into the City.
Ministers have repeatedly postponed a decision but are understood to approve it following a green light from MI5.
The visit also follows warnings from spooks that Beijing is waging a mass espionage campaign against British targets.
Chinese spies have tried to recruit thousands of people connected to Westminster in an online operation.
MI5 warned MPs and peers that Beijing was offering “large financial incentives for seemingly low-level information” as a way of building relationships and encouraging targets to provide “non-public sensitive information”.
Sir Keir Starmer is due to make a controversial visit to China in late JanuaryCredit: Getty
Chinese spies have tried to recruit thousands of people connected to Westminster in an online operationCredit: Getty
The hackers are understood to have possibly obtained tens of thousands of visa detailsCredit: Alamy
