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A former GCHQ intern, Hasaan Arshad, has pleaded guilty to violating the Computer Misuse Act by transferring top-secret data from a secure GCHQ computer to his work phone. He then moved the data to a personal hard drive connected to his home PC. Arshad admitted to the unauthorized acts, which prosecutors say involved a "top secret" tool worth millions of pounds. The tool was developed using a "significant amount" of taxpayer money.

Arshad, a student at the University of Manchester, was arrested and his home searched in September 2022. While he claimed his actions stemmed from curiosity and a desire to further develop the software, the incident underscores the risk of insider threats. Cybersecurity experts highlight the need for organizations to implement strict access controls, restrict removable media, and manage mobile device capabilities in sensitive areas to prevent such breaches.


References :

• DataBreaches.Net: Here’s today’s reminder of the insider threat (well, this, and the fact that U.S. government officials continue to deny any problem with discussing attack plans on Signal).
• The Register - Security: Not exactly Snowden levels of skill A student at Britain's top eavesdropping government agency has pleaded guilty to taking sensitive information home on the first day of his trial.…
• www.itpro.com: A former GCHQ intern has pleaded guilty to transferring data from a top-secret computer onto his work phone.

Classification:

• HashTags: #GCHQ #DataBreach #NationalSecurity
• Company: US Government
• Target: GCHQ
• Feature: Data Breach
• Type: DataBreach
• Severity: Major