British government refuses to identify country suspected of being involved in cyber attack

The British Defense Minister, Grant Shapps, attributed the computer attack that affected a database with thousands of British soldiers to an “evil agent” on Tuesday, but refused to confirm whether he suspected China’s involvement.

“For national security reasons, we cannot disclose further details about the alleged cyber activity behind this incident. However, I can confirm to Parliament that we have indications that this is suspicious activity by an evil agent and we cannot exclude the involvement of a State,” he said in the House of Commons.

TO season News from heavenwho broke the news, indicated that there was suspicion that China was the country in question.

The Chinese Embassy in the UK called the suggestion of involvement “a malicious and completely fabricated slander”.

“China does not encourage, support or tolerate cyberattacks. At the same time, we oppose the politicization of cybersecurity issues and the baseless defamation of other countries without factual evidence,” said a spokesperson for the diplomatic mission.

The breach occurred in a salary payment system belonging to a third-party company that holds the banking details of all serving armed forces personnel and some veterans.

Shapps highlighted that the The system was disconnected from the Internet and security was tightened.at the same time that an investigation was initiated.

The minister revealed that the ministry repels “millions of cyber attacks every day” and confirmed that the The service provider in question is SSCL, a subsidiary of the French group Sopra Steria.which works with other British public services, including the police.

The news prompted several Conservative MPs critical of the Chinese regime to renew pressure on British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to toughen London’s stance.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Sunak said the UK has a “very strong China policy”.

“It is a country with fundamentally different values ​​from ours, which acts in a more authoritarian manner internally and assertive externally,” he stressed.