UK Foreign Office cyberattack: China blamed again.
Responding to media reports, UK Deputy Business Secretary Chris Bryant confirmed on Friday that the attack took place in October and that some data related to visa applications may have been exposed. He also stressed that it was still “not clear” who was behind the incident, calling much of the media narrative speculative.
According to information that has been reported in the British media so far, the target of the attack was one of the British Foreign Office systems, and reports have claimed that a group called “Storm 1849”, attributed to China, gained access to this infrastructure.
The British government has not officially confirmed this attribution so far, saying that technical investigations are ongoing and any conclusions are subject to completion of the investigations.
The British official said the attack occurred through a technical glitch in one of the related systems, which was quickly fixed after detection, and based on the government’s initial assessment, the risk level to individuals is assessed as low.
Meanwhile, a British government spokesman, emphasizing that data security is taken extremely seriously, announced that the process of investigating and assessing the scope of the incident is still ongoing and, if necessary, additional measures will be taken to prevent such incidents from recurring.
The case has made headlines at a time when Britain has faced a wave of cyberattacks on major institutions and companies in recent years, and at the same time, the discussion about cyber threats attributed to governments and foreign actors has become more prominent in the political atmosphere in London.
The renewed accusation against China has once again highlighted speculation about how the British government will deal with Beijing. On the one hand, the British government justifies this line with the claim of deterrence and protection of infrastructure, and on the other hand, the case is tied to London’s economic and diplomatic considerations towards China.
According to reports, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is scheduled to visit China in late January of the new year, and London does not want its trade relations with Beijing to be damaged amid these accusations.