The UK's Defence Academy was affected by a cyberattack last year, which caused "significant" damage, according to a retired senior officer.
Edward Stringer (senior air force officer) said the attack was likely launched by another government, such as those of Russia or China.
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Speaking to Sky News, Mr Stringer said the breach was discovered in March 2021. The Defence Academy trains thousands of military personnel, diplomats and civil servants each year and was forced to “rebuild” its network after the cyberattack. It took months to fully restorethe damage caused.
Commenting on the possibility that the attack was linked to a foreign government, such as Iran or North Korea, Stringer said: “It could be one of those countries or it could just be someone trying to find a vulnerability for a ransomware, meaning it could be a typical criminal organization.”
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The senior air force officer said the "unusual activity" was discovered by contractors working for the company Serco.
External agents were detected in the UK Defence Academy network, who appear to have been there for nefarious purposes.
Sky News reported that no sensitive information was stored on the academy's network. Stringer said the attack was not successful and while hackers may have been using the academy as a "backdoor" to other Ministry of Defence (MoD) systems, there were no other breaches.
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A Ministry of Defence spokesperson told Sky News: “In March 2021 we were made aware of a cyber attack that affected the Defence Academy’s IT infrastructure. We took swift action and there was no impact on the wider MoD network. Teaching at the Defence Academy has continued.”
The UK Defence Academy, based in Shrivenham, offers courses to 28,000 people annually, on topics such as: leadership, international engagement, information warfare and cyber capabilities.
Source: The Independent
