“For national security reasons, we are unable to release further details about the suspected cyber activity behind this incident. However, I can confirm to Parliament that we have indications that this is suspicious activity by a malign actor and we cannot rule out involvement of a State”, he stated in the House of Commons.
The Sky News station, which reported the news, indicated that China was suspected of being the country in question.
The Chinese Embassy in the UK called the suggestion of involvement “completely fabricated and malicious slurs”.
“China does not encourage, support or tolerate cyberattacks. At the same time, we oppose the politicization of cybersecurity issues and the baseless defamation of other countries without factual evidence,” said a spokesperson for the diplomatic mission.
The leak occurred in a salary payment system belonging to a third-party company that holds the bank details of all serving armed forces personnel and some veterans.
Shapps stressed that the system was disconnected from the Internet and security was reinforced, while an investigation was launched.
The minister revealed that the ministry repels “millions of cyber attacks every day” and confirmed that the service provider in question is SSCL, a subsidiary of the French group Sopra Steria, which works with other British public services, including the police.
The news prompted several Conservative MPs critical of the Chinese regime to renew pressure on British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to toughen London’s stance.
Speaking to journalists today, Sunak argued that the UK has a “very robust policy towards China”.
“It is a country with values fundamentally different from ours, which acts in a more authoritarian manner internally and assertively externally”, he stressed.
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