British MoD Official Targeted by Foreign Spies via Spear Phishing

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The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) revealed that one of its high-ranking employees was targeted in a spear phishing attack by a foreign intelligence agency looking to steal military secrets.

According to The Register, the incident occurred sometime last year and was mentioned by Simon Kershaw, head of MoD's defence security and assurance, during a recent conference.

The highly personalized rogue email was sent in the name of someone the recipient got introduced to at a formal meeting.

The MoD experts who analyzed it concluded that it's attachment contained a trojan designed to steal classified documents and send them to foreign spies.

Kershaw did not name the targeted official, but The Register is fairly certain it was Joanna Hole, the MoD's former head of safety and sustainable development who retired in March.

Mrs. Hole also represented the MoD on the Cabinet Office Briefing Room A (COBRA) Civil Contingencies Committee, which deals with terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

The foreign power suspected of ordering the attack was not revealed either, but China is always strong possibility.

Back in February, a report leaked from the MI5, pointed at China as a top cyber espionage threat for the UK. It was explicitly titled "The Threat from Chinese Espionage" and was marked as restricted.

The report was distributed to top business executives and city officials who often travel abroad and details spying techniques commonly used by Chinese intelligence agents.

The UK government takes cyber threats very seriously and places them at the top of the national security threats list, after terrorism.

In September 2009, the government established the Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC), which is administered by the Office of Cyber Security and and became fully operation in March 2010.

In addition, last month, Prime Minister David Cameron pledged £650 million in cyber security funding over the next four years, despite the government currently making serious budget cuts in other areas.

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