The Mirror: Hackers Spread Packages Of Secret British Documents Online

Many thousands of “top secret” documents concerning the most inside and sensitive facilities of the British army and intelligence have been published on the Internet by a group of hackers. An English newspaper The Mirror wrote about this on Sunday, September 3, immediately placing the blame on “cybercriminals that are most likely linked to Russia.” Other sources claim it could be North Korea.

According to The Mirror, “hackers from the LockBit group, one of the most dangerous in the world, attacked the UK Department of Defense and posted thousands of documents online, which, among other things, could help potential criminals and terrorists infiltrate some of the UK’s most secret facilities, including the nuclear submarine base HMNB Clyde, the chemical weapons laboratory at Porton Down, and the GCHQ spy listening center.” In addition, LockBit cybercriminals allegedly stole classified information regarding the security of some maximum-custody prisons in the UK.

According to the newspaper’s confidential sources, “hackers stole documents last month (August 2023 – ed.) after an unprecedented attack on the computers of Zaun,” a West Midlands-based company that manufactures security systems and algorithms for the most vulnerable sites. “The government should now explain why this company’s IT systems were so vulnerable,” the British newspaper writes. “Any information that provides security measures to potential enemies is of utmost concern.”

Labor MP Kevan Jones, who is on the House of Commons Defense Closed Committee, told reporters, “This could cause very serious damage to the security of some of our most sensitive facilities.”

The cyberattack on Zaun follows a series of severe security breaches in British police that have put at risk the sensitive personal data of some 47,000 officers. There is certainly no shortage of these kinds of shocking facts: the police in Northern Ireland accidentally shared the personal details of 10,000 of their officers.

However, it is useless to search for all these “top secret” documents on the “regular” Internet: according to The Mirror, hackers distributed the data on the Darknet, a hidden network accessible only through special software. The LockBit group has been on the FBI’s most wanted lists since 2020 and is said to have filed £80 million in payout requests around the world.