Labour minister Chris Bryant has confirmed reports that the UK Foreign Office was targeted by a cyber-attack in October.
The UK Foreign Office was hacked in October, a government minister has confirmed.
Trade minister Chris Bryant explained that there was a low risk to “any individual” as a result of the cyber-attack, which was first reported by The Sun newspaper on Friday (19.12.25).
The publication named Chinese hacking group Storm 1849 as the culprits behind the breach, which is said to have possibly included tens of thousands of visa details.
However, Bryant stressed that it was “not clear” who perpetrated the attack on the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and warned against speculation.
The Labour MP told Sky News: “There certainly has been a hack at the FCDO and we’ve been aware of that since October.”
A government spokesperson added to the Guardian newspaper: “We have been working to investigate a cyber incident. We take the security of our systems and data extremely seriously.”
Little is known about Storm 1849 but it has been linked to a hacking campaign named ArcaneDoor that was first detected in 2024.
Its victims have included government networks, according to the US tech firm Cisco – which had its technology targeted in those attacks.
Toby Lewis, the global head of threat analysis at the UK cybersecurity firm Darktrace, stated that it would be “reasonable” to suggest that the ArcaneDoor and Whitehall hacks could be connected.
He said: “It would be fair to say these two things happened broadly at the same time and it would be a reasonable hypothesis to suggest they are linked.
“We do see some Chinese threat groups targeting datasets that might serve a benefit to Beijing in the future.”
Bryant explained that it could take “quite a long time” to identify those responsible for the hacking.
The politician said: “We managed to close the hole, as it were, very quickly. There was a technical issue in one of our sites, I gather, and we’re fairly confident there’s a low risk of any individual being affected by this.
“I know that some of the reports have said potentially various things could happen. I think that’s a bit more speculation than is helpful. So I don’t want to scaremonger. We are on top of it.
“And also, it’s not entirely clear where this has come from. I know everybody’s speculating about that as well.”
UK Foreign Office was hacked in October
