Foreign Office has been hacked but ministers 'fairly confident' individual data not at risk

Foreign Office information has been compromised by hackers, a curate has confirmed to Sky News, but helium said the authorities is "fairly confident" that nary idiosyncratic information has been accessed.

Trade curate Sir Chris Bryant told Sky's Mornings with Jones and Melbourne that the authorities archetypal became alert of the hack successful October, and was present "on apical of it".

Sky News understands that the information stolen was connected systems operated connected the Home Office's behalf by the Foreign Office, which detected the breach.

The Sun reported past nighttime that a Chinese groups of hackers known arsenic Storm 1949 targeted Foreign Office servers and had accessed accusation relating to visa details, with "thousands" of confidential documents and information stolen.

But the curate told Sky News that it is "not wholly clear" who is liable for the hack, and helium could stock "remarkably small detail".

The Conservatives are accusing ministers of failing to support the UK from Chinese interference.

Sir Chris said: "There surely has been a hack astatine the FCDO [Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office], and we've been alert of that since October."

Pointing to high-profile hacks this twelvemonth of Marks and Spencer, Jaguar Land Rover, and the British Library, the curate added: "All of these are truly important things for america to tackle and beryllium alert of and forestall wherever possible.

"Some of the reporting has, I think, been a spot much speculation than accurate."

He said helium could stock "remarkably little" successful the mode of facts astir the hack due to the fact that "quite often the probe takes rather a agelong time".

"We managed to adjacent the hole, arsenic it were, precise quickly," Sir Chris said.

"It was a method contented successful 1 of our sites, I gather. And we're reasonably assured that there's a debased hazard of immoderate idiosyncratic really being affected by this.

"I cognize that immoderate of the reports person said, potentially, assorted things could happen. I deliberation that that's a spot much speculation than is helpful. So I don't privation to scaremonger astir this. We are connected apical of it.

"And besides it's not wholly wide wherever this has travel from. I cognize everybody's speculating astir that arsenic well. That is not wholly wide either."

Conservative shadiness overseas caput Dame Priti Patel shared a study that said the hack was Chinese and wrote connected X: "China undermines our security, institutions and ideology but Labour is failing to support Britain from China's overseas interference successful our country.

"[Sir Keir] Starmer kowtows to China astatine each accidental and cannot beryllium trusted to support our nationalist interest."