UK navy safety breach as identities of elite troopers mistakenly leaked for many years
It has been discovered that two publications associated with the British Army have been leaking secret information on the identities of soldiers for years and terrorists could have easily got their hands on it
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has made a major mistake which could have easily endangered soldiers’ lives.
Identities of at least 20 elite members associated with he special forces of the armed forces have been leaked by two publications associated with the army and it has been going on for over a decade. Terrorists could have easily got their hands on the information, putting the soldiers lives at risk.
The military is supposed to be completely secure and no information that could endanger anyone in it should ever be made public.
The Times discovered that two publications (the names of which cannot be mentioned for obvious reasons), were publishing the names and even codenames of some of the soldiers.
The paper alerted the MoD and the details were promptly taken down, but it could have easily been too late.
The MoD said in a statement: “The safety of our personnel is of paramount importance, and we take data security extremely seriously. Where we become aware of any potential risk, we will always take immediate action.”
Tom Tugendhat, the former security minister, who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, said: “Thirty years ago terrorism coming from Northern Ireland made us all aware of operational security at home.
“It’s clear that some of those lessons need to be learnt again.”
The publications didn’t exactly reveal the soldiers’ unit but the documents in the two publications listed their names with two codenames used to refer to the special forces and their operations.
The scary part is, the explanation of these codenames is easily available online and well known in military circles, meaning that any terrorist group or enemy state would be able to work out that the soldiers were either serving in or affiliated with an elite unit.
Some of the soldiers whose identities were leaked were in supporting roles but others were active soldiers.
It was revealed that one of the publications has been doing this routinely for over a decade, disclosing 14 identities.
The other appears to have been doing it for four years and has revealed six names. Several of the soldiers identified have had distinguished military careers and one is the son of a senior politician.
It isn’t the first time secret information has been leaked. In 2021, the identities of more than 100 special forces troops were disclosed accidentally in a promotion advert within the army.
This was nowhere near as bad however, because the only people it was sent to were civil servants. This recent leak could have been read by absolutely anyone.
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