A significant data breach targeting its service personnel has attacked the Ministry of Defense in the United Kingdom.

According to Sky News, which first reported the incident early Tuesday morning (May 7), it is understood that the hackers came from China, despite officials in Whitehall not naming the country involved.

The cyberattack targeted a third-party payroll system catering to current service personnel and some veterans, and there are speculations that names and bank details have been compromised. 

The ministry has since worked on the hack over the last three days to understand its scale and scope.

British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps will also update fellow MPs about the hack later in the day and will provide a "multi-point plan," including action to protect affected personnel from future cyberattacks. 

Conservative Party MP and military veteran Tobias Ellwood told Sky News that China was "probably looking at the financially vulnerable" among the current and retired personnel in an attempt to extort them and possibly divulge state secrets to Beijing.

Elwood further speculated that the cyberattack in the UK was just the beginning, adding that "other NATO countries will be targeted, too."

On the other hand, Labour Party's shadow defense secretary John Healey said that there were "serious questions" that Shapps should answer as the recent cyberattack against British military personnel was "utterly acceptable."

"Parliament will expect a full Commons statement tomorrow," he added.

Meanwhile, the BBC reported that the ministry was in the process of notifying and providing support and advice to those affected. 

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China's Cyberattack Against UK

The attack came two months after Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden revealed to the House of Commons that two cyberattacks targeting the UK's Electoral Commission happened in 2021 and 2022 against anti-China MPs. 

The Chinese embassy in London called Shapps's revelations at the time "completely fabricated and malicious slanders."

The UK's National Cyber Security Center also said last December that Russian intelligence was responsible for what it said was a "malicious cyber activity" targeting British politics and democratic processes.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping is currently on his European tour, but the UK is not part of his itinerary. He recently spent a day in Paris, meeting his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.

The Independent reported that a group of seven French lawmakers targeted by cyberattacks called for a judicial investigation by authorities, alleging that the attack was made by APT31, the same one sanctioned by Westminster last March.

However, unlike the US, UK, and New Zealand, French authorities have avoided accusing China of staging cyberattacks against its adversaries.

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