Latest news with #security breach
CBS News
20-07-2025
- CBS News
Jeep stolen from Chicago Police Department HQ parking lot
Chicago police late Sunday were looking for a crew of car thieves who stole a Jeep from the parking lot of Chicago Public Safety Headquarters. At 7:19 a.m., the thieves jumped the security gate at CPD headquarters, at 3510 S. Michigan Ave. in the Bronzeville neighborhood. Police said the thieves broke into and stole the black Jeep sport-utility vehicle, and then escaped by smashing through the security gate. According to unconfirmed police dispatch reports, officers did not realize the car was stolen from the lot for an hour. There was no word late Sunday on how the security lapse happened.
The Independent
17-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
More than 100 British government personnel exposed by Afghan data leak
A catastrophic data leak by a Ministry of Defence official in February 2022 exposed details of tens of thousands of Afghans seeking refuge in the UK due to their links with British forces. The breach also compromised the identities of over 100 British government personnel, including MI6 spies, SAS members, members of parliament, and senior military figures. The leak led to 16,000 affected Afghans being evacuated to Britain, with 8,000 more expected, and was subject to an unprecedented two-year superinjunction preventing publication of details. Defence secretary John Healey confirmed the exposure of British officials' names, while the Intelligence and Security Committee demanded immediate briefings and intelligence assessments regarding the superinjunction. Former armed forces minister James Heappey criticised the Ministry of Defence's "flawed" decision-making on sanctuary applications for Afghan special forces, known as the Triples, whose payments by the UK government were initially denied but later confirmed.
The Independent
17-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
More than 100 Britons' details in leaked Afghan dataset, including spies and SAS
The details of more than 100 Britons, including spies and special forces, were included in a massive data leak that resulted in thousands of Afghans being secretly relocated to the UK. Defence sources have said that details of MI6 spies, SAS and special forces personnel were included in the spreadsheet, after they had endorsed Afghans who had applied to be brought to the UK. The dataset, containing the personal information of nearly 19,000 people who applied for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap), was released 'in error' in February 2022 by a defence official. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) became aware of the breach more than a year later, when excerpts of the spreadsheet were anonymously posted in a Facebook group in August 2023. Other details leaked included the names and contact details of the Arap applicants and names of their family members. In a statement on Tuesday, after an unprecedented superinjunction was lifted by a High Court judge, Defence Secretary John Healey offered a 'sincere apology' on behalf of the British Government for the data breach. He later told the Commons the spreadsheet contained 'names and contact details of applicants and, in some instances, information relating to applicants' family members, and in a small number of cases the names of members of Parliament, senior military officers and Government officials were noted as supporting the application'. 'This was a serious departmental error,' he added. Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge also apologised on behalf of the former Conservative government, which was in power when the leak happened and when it was discovered more than a year later. Mr Cartlidge later asked Mr Healey about reports that someone other than the original person who leaked the data had been engaged in blackmail. Arap was responsible for relocating Afghan nationals who had worked for or with the UK Government and were therefore at risk of reprisals once the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021. Between 80,000 and 100,000 people, including the estimated number of family members of the Arap applicants, were affected by the breach and could be at risk of harassment, torture or death if the Taliban obtained their data, judges said in June 2024. However, an independent review, commissioned by the Government in January 2025, concluded last month that the dataset is 'unlikely to significantly shift Taliban understanding of individuals who may be of interest to them'. The breach resulted in the creation of a secret Afghan relocation scheme – the Afghanistan Response Route – by the previous government in April 2024. The scheme is understood to have cost around £400 million so far, with a projected cost once completed of around £850 million. Millions more are expected to be paid in legal costs and compensation. Around 4,500 people, made up of 900 Arap applicants and approximately 3,600 family members, have been brought to the UK or are in transit so far through the Afghanistan Response Route. A further estimated 600 people and their relatives are expected to be relocated before the scheme closes, with a total of around 6,900 people expected to be relocated by the end of the scheme. Projected costs of the scheme may include relocation costs, transitional accommodation, legal costs and local authority tariffs. The case returned to the High Court in London on Thursday, sitting in a closed session in the morning where journalists and their lawyers were excluded. While private hearings exclude the public and press but allow the parties in the case to remain, closed hearings require specific lawyers who can deal with sensitive issues, including national security. During the public part of the hearing, Mr Justice Chamberlain said that while he needed to give lawyers for the Ministry of Defence an 'opportunity' to argue why a closed hearing was needed, 'I will be scrutinising very carefully any justification for holding any part of this hearing in private, let alone in closed'. The judge later said he would not be 'kicking the ball down the road'. He added: 'The superinjunction has now been lifted and if there are other matters that are capable of being reported in public, that needs to be able to happen straight away.' Also on Thursday, Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) requested a number of documents used in the superinjunction proceedings be provided to it 'immediately'. This includes intelligence assessments from the MoD and the Joint Intelligence Organisation, as well as the unredacted report of retired civil servant Paul Rimmer. ISC chairman Lord Beamish continued that the committee had also asked for the reasons why barristers for the Government previously told the Court of Appeal that information about the breach could not be shared with the ISC.
The Guardian
17-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Spies and SAS personnel among 100-plus Britons included in Afghan data leak
The details of more than 100 Britons, including spies and special forces personnel, were included in a massive data leak that resulted in thousands of Afghans being secretly relocated to the UK. Defence sources have said that details of MI6 spies, SAS and special forces personnel were included in the spreadsheet, after they had endorsed Afghans who had applied to be brought to the UK after the Taliban takeover. The dataset, containing the personal information of nearly 19,000 people who applied for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap), was released 'in error' in February 2022 by a defence official. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) became aware of the breach more than a year later, when excerpts of the spreadsheet were anonymously posted in a Facebook group in August 2023. Other leaked details included the names and contact details of the Arap applicants and names of their family members. In a statement on Tuesday, after an unprecedented superinjunction was lifted by a high court judge, the defence secretary, John Healey, offered a 'sincere apology' on behalf of the government for the data breach. He later told the Commons the spreadsheet contained 'names and contact details of applicants and, in some instances, information relating to applicants' family members, and in a small number of cases the names of members of parliament, senior military officers and government officials were noted as supporting the application'. 'This was a serious departmental error,' he added. The shadow defence secretary, James Cartlidge, apologised on behalf of the former Conservative government, which was in power when the leak happened and when it was discovered more than a year later. Cartlidge later asked Healey about reports that someone other than the original person who leaked the data had been engaged in blackmail.
Sky News
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Spies and special forces among more than 100 Britons whose details were included in Afghan data leak
Personal details of spies and special forces were included in a massive data leak that led to thousands of Afghans being secretly relocated to the UK. Information about more than 100 Britons was contained in the breach. Defence sources have said that details of MI6 spies, SAS and special forces personnel were included in the spreadsheet, after they had backed Afghans who had applied to be brought to the UK. It comes after the personal information of nearly 19,000 people who applied for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap), was released "in error" in February 2022 by a defence official. Please refresh the page for the latest version.
