Russian hackers leak documents linked to eight UK military bases as MoD launches probe

Russian hackers have published internal documents related to eight British military bases. The materials contain the personal data of employees along with protocols for maintaining cybersecurity, The Mail on Sunday reported on Oct. 18.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed the breach and said it was “actively investigating the claims that information relating to the MoD has been published on the dark web,” according to a statement cited by the BBC. “To safeguard sensitive operational information, we will not comment any further on the details,” it added.

According to the report, the cyberattack was carried out by the Russian hacker group Lynx, which infiltrated the systems of defense contractor Dodd Group, a company responsible for the construction and maintenance of military facilities across the UK. Some of the stolen files also came from another contractor, Kier.

The hackers reportedly demanded a ransom and threatened to publish confidential data if it was not paid, with some of the stolen materials already appearing online.

“We can confirm that the Dodd Group recently experienced a ransomware incident whereby an unauthorised third-party gained temporary access to part of our internal systems. We took immediate steps to contain the incident, swiftly secured our systems, and engaged a specialist IT forensic firm to investigate what happened. We are taking these claims extremely seriously and are working hard to validate this,” a Dodd Group spokesperson told the BBC.

Among the leaked documents are: schematics of Royal Air Force bases where nuclear weapons are stored and U.S. F-35 fighter jets are stationed, data on the UK MoD’s main drone base, details of an ultra-secret radar station, and information about naval facilities.

The incident follows a series of major data breaches at the MoD. In July, it was revealed that the personal data of thousands of Afghans evacuated to the UK had been exposed after a subcontractor for the ministry was hacked. Last year, the personal information of an undisclosed number of serving British military personnel was also compromised in a significant breach targeting an MoD payroll system.