A sweeping cyberattack has compromised roughly 80,000 computers used by the British government and its Foreign Office, exposing sensitive employee credentials and internal data. Hackers reportedly used previously stolen information to bypass Fortinet firewalls, breaking into email accounts belonging to senior officials and diplomatic staff stationed abroad.

The breach netted attackers access to personnel records from the Foreign Office’s overseas missions, local councils, and even the National Health Service. Among the confirmed victims are the British embassies in Thailand and Mauritius, as well as local governments in Derbyshire and London’s Waltham Forest borough. The stolen data also includes information from pharmaceutical suppliers and energy companies, suggesting the intrusion extended well beyond government networks.

The pilfered data—primarily email addresses and their corresponding passwords—is now for sale on the dark web for roughly $60,000. Security experts warn that these credentials could unlock access to core government IT systems, amplifying the risk of further espionage or sabotage. The attack underscores persistent vulnerabilities in legacy firewall configurations and the cascading damage when widely used security appliances are exploited at scale.

Source: RIA Novosti