19-07-2025
Questions raised over MoD amid data breaches
Hundreds of Ministry of Defence data breaches have been revealed, with 569 incidents recorded in 2023-24, an increase from the previous year.
One significant breach last year involved the names and bank details of 272,000 staff being compromised after a contractor-operated system was hacked.
The MoD was fined £350,000 for a data breach related to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, which exposed up to 100,000 Afghans and potentially British service personnel to risk.
Lord Beamish, chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, has questioned why highly sensitive information was stored on low-security systems, expressing concerns about the MoD's data handling.
Both the Intelligence and Security Committee and the Commons defence select committee are set to investigate the breaches, with calls for greater accountability and improved data protection measures.
