Nation state penetrates defenses of UK government intranet

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude revealed that an assault by an unnamed “state-sponsored” entity compromised a system administrator’s account on the Government Secure Intranet. The disclosure came during a speech at the IA14 Conference this week.

“I can tell you of a recent case where a state-sponsored hostile group gained access to a system administrator account on the Government Secure Intranet. Fortunately this attack was discovered early and dealt with to mitigate any damage,” Maude said.

“For that – and in many other cases – we can be thankful that we have some brilliant people working to keep us safe. They’re drawn from GCHQ and the security services, the armed forces, the police and National Crime Agency, the civil service, and of course the private sector too, but they share much in common,” Maude continued. “They’re bright, motivated and have bucket loads of expertise.”