The UK is investigating a data breach that exposed details of dozens of Afghan interpreters seeking to leave Afghanistan after the Taliban (terrorist organization banned in Russia) takeover, a communication officer at the UK Ministry of Defense confirmed to Sputnik on Tuesday
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st September, 2021) The UK is investigating a data breach that exposed details of dozens of Afghan interpreters seeking to leave Afghanistan after the Taliban (terrorist organization banned in Russia) takeover, a communication officer at the UK Ministry of Defense confirmed to Sputnik on Tuesday.
"An investigation has been launched into a data breach of information from the Afghan Relocations Assistance Policy team.� We apologise to everyone impacted by this breach and are working hard to ensure it does not happen again. The Ministry of Defence takes its information and data handling responsibilities very seriously," a Ministry of Defense spokesperson was quoted as saying in a written reply sent to Sputnik.
On Monday, the BBC reported that the email addresses of more than 250 people seeking relocation to the UK were mistakenly copied into an email from the Ministry of Defense.
The broadcaster also quoted a former Afghan interpreter who used to work for the UK troops in Afghanistan that the breach could cost the lives of those that were left behind in the central Asian country.
Reacting to the reports, Conservative lawmaker and former defense minister Johnny Mercer accused the ministry and the Home Office of a criminally negligent performance on doing their duty to the Afghan collaborators.
"The truth on how we have treated our Afghan interpreters will out," he wrote on Twitter.
Labour lawmaker and shadow defense minister John Healey also took to the social media to urge the government to "step up efforts" to get them safely to the UK after stressing that the data breach "has needlessly put lives at risk."
