British Ministry of Defence confirms data leak exposing Special Forces personnel

The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) is addressing a security leak that reportedly exposed the identities of elite special forces soldiers online for more than a decade. According to an investigation by the Sunday Times, the names and ranks of at least 20 elite soldiers were publicly accessible in unprotected documents associated with the British Army.

This breach involved two military publications that were meant to be restricted to armed forces personnel only but were published online without password protection for over ten years. The documents contained highly sensitive information including:

• Names of special forces personnel
• Ranks of special forces personnel
• Codenames used to refer to special forces units
• Codenames used for special operations

While the documents reportedly did not explicitly state which units these soldiers belonged to explanations of the codenames used are readily available online and well-known within military circles. This means that individuals could determine whether the named soldiers were serving in or affiliated with elite units such as the Special Air Service (SAS) or Special Boat Service (SBS).

Apparently, the publications were updated only months ago, suggesting some of the identified soldiers may have been engaged in active operations at the time of exposure.

BBC News has reported that the "very small number" of affected personnel have been appropriately notified and protective measures have been implemented. The exact number of affected individuals appears to be at least 20, though the complete figure has not been disclosed.