Foreign Office targeted in 'serious cyber incident'

A tender document published on a government website has accidentally revealed that the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was the target of a ‘serious cyber-security incident’.

The document revealed that cyber security firm BAE Systems Applied Intelligence was called on for ‘urgent support’ after unidentified hackers were detected inside the FCDO systems.

It is not believed that any classified or highly sensitive material was breached. It is also not clear when the incident took place, but the contract, valued at £467,325, finished on 12 January of this year.

A number of foreign states have been accused of major espionage campaigns in the past, including Russia and China. Foreign governments are frequently the target of cyber-espionage campaigns by other states seeking access to information about diplomacy and current events.

The UK and US have separately issued warnings of the risk of the conflict of Ukraine spilling over into cyber attacks against businesses and government systems.