The UK's defence ministry has been hit by a significant cyberattack, confirmed by a government minister on Monday.
Mel Stride, the work and pensions minister, described the attack as targeting a system managed by an external firm and stated that it was still a "very significant matter".
According to Tobias Ellwood, a former minister in the Conservative government, the attack aimed at a third-party payroll system used by the ministry of defence and bore the hallmarks of a Chinese cyber attack.
"Targeting the names of the payroll system and service personnel's bank details, this does point to China because it can be as part of a plan, a strategy to see who might be coerced," Ellwood told BBC Radio.
The breach reportedly exposed the names, bank details, and in some cases, personal addresses of current and former armed forces members.
Stride told Sky News that the Ministry of Defence swiftly took the affected database offline but refrained from directly attributing the attack to Beijing.
"That is an assumption... we are not saying that at this precise moment," he said.
Further details on the incident will be presented by defence secretary Grant Shapps to parliament later in the day.
(AFP)
Dharavi slum in Mumbai
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session. (Photo: Hertfordshire Police /Handout via REUTERS)
Man pleads not guilty to murder of BBC presenter's family
A 26-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering the wife and two daughters of BBC sports commentator John Hunt in a crossbow and knife attack.
Kyle Clifford, who also faces charges of rape, appeared via video link at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday.
Clifford, arrested in July after a manhunt, is charged with three counts of murder, one count each of rape and false imprisonment, and two counts of possessing offensive weapons – a 10-inch knife and a crossbow.
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session.
He is expected to enter a plea for that charge at a later date.
The victims were Carol Hunt, 61, wife of horseracing commentator John Hunt, and their daughters Louise, 25, and Hannah, 28.
An earlier hearing revealed that Louise had been found tied up and that both she and her sister had been shot with a crossbow, while their mother had been stabbed with a knife.
The fatal attack occurred at the family’s home in Bushey, a commuter town near Watford, northwest of London.
(With inputs from AFP)