Scientists working at a military base which was at the heart of the Skripal nerve agent probe fear their personal details may have been stolen by cyber criminals.
Workers at the Defence Scientific Technical Laboratory (DSTL) at Porton Down, Salisbury, were alerted to the security breach this month by union officials.
The base had been key in determining that it was Novichok which had been used in the attempted murder of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in 2018.
Others victims of the hack include technicians at BAE Systems, Siemens and Rolls-Royce, all of which have military contracts.
It comes after The Mail on Sunday last week revealed Russian cyber criminals had stolen hundreds of sensitive military documents containing details of eight RAF and Royal Navy bases and posted them on the dark web.
The latest attack saw hackers target Prospect, one of the UK’s biggest civil service unions, which includes Ministry of Defence officials among its members.
The union was hacked in June but most members only learnt this month that personal information, including bank details, email addresses, employment records and even their sexual orientation may have been stolen. The delay has sparked frustration.
An email seen by National Security News and sent by one Porton Down scientist to Prospect, said: ‘We work in national security, some in extremely sensitive roles dealing with current operations. When you found our data had been compromised you should have told us all immediately as our personal security is at risk.’
Another email said ‘The membership of this union includes top-level civil servants, the defence sector, nuclear sector etc – it’s a national security risk.
The base had been key in determining that it was Novichok which had been used in the attempted murder of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia
Workers at the Defence Scientific Technical Laboratory (DSTL) at Porton Down, Salisbury, were alerted to the security breach this month by union officials
‘The data could well end up in the hands of a hostile state actor.’
A Prospect member also claimed that the union refused to identify hackers or whether a ransom had been paid to retrieve stolen data.
Former First Sea Lord Alan West believed Russia was behind most recent cyber attacks. He said: ‘Hackers will often target small businesses working for the MoD to gain access to bigger projects.’
Porton Down is one of the UK’s most sensitive military bases, conducting top-secret work into biological agents.
