A former GCHQ intern has admitted risking national security by taking top secret data home with him on his mobile phone. Hasaan Arshad, 25, pleaded guilty to an offence under the Computer Misuse Act on what would have been the first day of his trial at the Old Bailey in London.
The charge related to committing an unauthorised act which risked damaging national security. Arshad, from Rochdale in Greater Manchester, is said to have transferred sensitive data from a secure computer to his phone, which he had taken into a top secret area of GCHQ on 24 August 2022.
Read more…
Source: BBC News
Sign up for our Newsletter
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- UK: Information Commissioner’s Office reprimands Post Office for data breach
December 4, 2025
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued a reprimand to the Post Office following a data breach that resulted in the unauthorised disclosure of personal information belonging to hundreds of postmasters involved in the Horizon IT scandal. The breach occurred when the Post Office’s communications team mistakenly published an unredacted version of a legal settlement document ...
- NHS Highland staff ‘poor practice’ sparks fears of heightened risk of a major cyber attack
December 1, 2025
NHS Highland is at heightened risk of falling prey to a major cyber attack in part due to “poor practice” by some staff members. The warning, contained in a report to the board assessing risk levels faced in a range of areas against what is deemed an acceptable level of risk, comes as the busy ...
- Multiple London councils hit by ‘cyber attack’
November 26, 2025
Several London councils have been hit by a “cyber attack” which could have compromised residents’ data. Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Westminster City councils said they have been responding to a “cyber security issue” since Monday morning. The councils, which share a number of IT systems, added they are working with the “help of ...
- US, UK, and Australia sanction Russian ‘bulletproof’ web host used in ransomware attacks
November 19, 2025
The governments of the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia have sanctioned a Russian “bulletproof” web hosting company and several of its related firms for allegedly being used to launch ransomware attacks against U.S. victims and critical infrastructure. In a statement Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury said it imposed coordinated sanctions on the Russia-based web host ...
- Bournemouth University receives £2.3 million to boost regional and national cyber security
November 19, 2025
Bournemouth University has been awarded nearly £2.3 million by the Office for Students to develop a new Cyber Competence Centre that will address regional and national cyber skills gaps. As well as upgrading the university’s existing facilities, the investment will be used to launch a new, AI-powered, Security Operations Centre of the Future for students to ...
- Twitter hacker ordered to pay back £4.1m worth of Bitcoin
November 17, 2025
A Twitter hacker who breached the accounts of celebrities including Barack Obama and Jeff Bezos has been forced to hand over £4million. Joseph James O’Connor, 26, was jailed in the US for the hacks which involved scamming people out of Bitcoin and threatening celebrities with the release of personal images and messages. Now the CPS Proceeds ...