Foreign Office was hit by 'serious' hacking attempt, document reveals

February 8, 2022

Foreign Office was hit by ‘serious’ hacking attempt, it reveals in document seemingly published on Government website by mistake

Public tender document was put on the Foreign Office’s website on Friday
It revealed that ‘urgent support’ was required to deal with the hacking attempt
Security firm BAE Systems Applied Intelligence was paid £467,000 to help
Has not been confirmed when incident happened or damage caused

The Foreign Office has been a ‘target of a serious cyber security incident’, according to a document published apparently by mistake.

The public tender document, which was put on the Foreign Office’s website on Friday, did not outline what happened or who carried it out but stated there was ‘urgent support’ required to ‘support remediation and investigation’.

It added that cyber-security firm BAE Systems Applied Intelligence was called to deal with the hacking attack and received more than £467,000 for its work.

The document said the work required involved ‘business analyst and technical architect support to analyse an authority cyber security incident’.

The firm’s contract was concluded on January 12 this year, although it has not been confirmed when the incident took place or how much damage was caused.

It is not believed that any secret information was obtained by the hackers.

The document revealing the hacking attempt is believed to have been published online by accident, the BBC reported. It has since been removed.

The Foreign Office has been a ‘target of a serious cyber security incident’, according to a document published apparently by mistake

It is understood that all parts of the Government implement cyber security defences to identify and prevent potential attempts by cyber criminals to gain access to networks.

The tender document, which was published on Friday, said: ‘The Authority was the target of a serious cyber security incident, details of which cannot be disclosed.

‘In response to this incident, urgent support was required to support remediation and investigation.’

A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office spokesperson said: ‘We do not comment on security but have systems in place to detect and defend against potential cyber incidents.’

The hacking attempt, which was first reported by the publication The Stack, comes a year after it emerged that the Foreign Office’s Wilton Park agency was besieged by a cyber attack.

Sources said that the National Cyber Security Centre was called in to help investigate following the breach.

States including Russia and China have been accused of major espionage campaigns in the past.

Foreign governments are often targeted by hackers directed by other states trying to obtain secret information related to politics, diplomacy and current events.

However, both the US and the UK have also been accused of carrying out similar activity around the world.

Last year, Russia’s major Solar Winds espionage campaign was unearthed.

US officials said hackers gained access to email accounts belonging to the Trump administration’s head of the Department of Homeland Security and members of the department’s cybersecurity staff.

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