Dissident republican activists in Northern Ireland claim to have information on the identity of police officers revealed in a data breach.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland’s (PSNI) chief constable Simon Byrne said he was ‘deeply sorry’ over what he described as an ‘industrial scale breach of data’ that saw the surnames, initials and locations of 10,000 officers and staff released to the public.
Speaking at a press conference after a Northern Ireland Policing Board meeting that overran by more than two hours, Mr Byrne said he was not considering his position – the second time he has ruled out quitting in the last 24 hours.
Mr Byrne said an ‘early worst-case scenario that we have been dealing with is that third parties would attempt to get this data’ – and that dissident republican groups claim to have obtained the data after it was circulated on messaging platform WhatsApp.
Officers are working ‘flat out’ to get answers to the ‘questions that are on everybody’s lips’ Mr Byrne said.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief constable Simon Byrne, addressing reporters on Thursday following a mass data breach. The names and locations of thousands of officers and staff were exposed in a freedom of information response
The surnames, initials, ranks, roles and locations of some 10,000 PSNI officers and staff were visible to the public for between two and a half and three hours
Mr Byrne said the priority ‘has to be remaining alert to the safety and welfare of both officers and staff as we deal with this unprecedented incident’.
He told the media: ‘I am deeply sorry about what has happened when we have seen an industrial scale breach of data that has gone into the public domain.
‘We quickly established a critical incident command structure…so that we can work flat out to get answers to the questions that are on everybody’s lips both within the organisations and beyond that.
‘An early worst case scenario that we have been dealing with is that third parties would attempt to get this data to intimidate, corrupt or indeed cause harm to our officers and staff.
‘We are now aware that dissident republicans claim to be in possession of some of this information circulating on WhatsApp, and as we speak we are advising officers and staff about how to deal with that and any further risk that they face.’
No police officers have been moved from their home following the mass breach, Mr Byrne added.
He continued: ‘One of the things we’ve done under the leadership is establish a group to look at real-time concerns about threat and risk.
‘We’ve had over 500 referrals to that service, which is real-time triaging the level of risk that we perceive officers to be facing and then we’re offering them that advice.
‘We have not yet redeployed anybody, for example, from their home, we’re taking steps this afternoon to reassess in some cases, which I won’t go into for operational reasons, whether we need to redeploy some specialist officers away from the usual place of work to a new location.’
Mr Byrne – pictured here on a walkabout last month – says he is ‘deeply sorry’ over the mass data breach, which has exposed the surnames, initials and locations of 10,000 serving Police Servicer o
Simon Byrne arrives at James House in Belfast to be quizzed on the ‘critical’ data breach by the Northern Ireland Policing Board on Thursday August 10
Mr Byrne said he was ‘deeply sorry’ for the breach, and that action had been taken to reassure officers of their safety. However, dissident republican groups claim to have obtained copies of the data, which were circulated on messaging platform WhatsApp
He admitted that the force may face ‘financial penalties’ for the data breach – either in the form of fines from regulators, or from officers making claims against the service, but added: ‘To try and speculate yet is too early.’
When asked about his position, Mr Byrne said leadership was ‘not about walking away’, adding that steps had already been taken to prevent a repeat of the breach.
He said: ‘For what we understand has caused the breach we have taken immediate steps to remedy that, so in effect in future nothing else will be issued on a spreadsheet, it will go in a PDF format so that it can’t link to another part of information.
‘In terms of my own position, firstly in the short term my priority is about the wellbeing of officers and staff as we navigate our way through this crisis.
‘But equally I know it’s a question that people will be asking, I don’t think leadership is about walking away, it’s facing up to your responsibilities and I think the organisation needs consistency and calm heads at the moment across the team to lead us through what we accept is an unprecedented crisis.’
Asked if members of the Policing Board mentioned him resigning, Mr Byrne replied: ‘No, they didn’t.’
Mr Byrne cut short a family holiday to return to Belfast to be quizzed by politicians at an emergency meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board following the ‘critical’ data breach.
The PSNI has revealed that the surname, initials, ranks, role and location of all serving officers and staff were available online for three hours.
Information that could identify officers – potentially including those working undercover in dissident groups – was released in response to a freedom of information request seeking the number of officers across the organisation.
In the published response to the request a table was released which contained the rank and grade data requested – but it also included more detailed information identifying officers by their name and location.
The data was potentially visible to the public for between two and a half to three hours.
On Wednesday it emerged that the theft of documents, including a spreadsheet containing the names of more than 200 serving officers and staff, and a police issue laptop and radio, from a car in Newtownabbey in July, is also being investigated.
A press conference was held on Thursday after Mr Byrne faced a grilling from politicians on the Northern Ireland Policing Board. The meeting overran by more than two hours
The Police Service of Northern Ireland has since admitted another data breach occurred more than a month ago. A spreadsheet containing the names of 200 serving officers and staff, along with a police-issue laptop and radio, were lifted from a private car in Newtonabbey on July 6
There are fears that dissident republican groups in Northern Ireland could use the data to identify undercover police officers among their ranks (pictured, masked members of a dissident republican group at a parade in April marking the 1916 Easter Rising insurrection)
Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd said they have contacted the officers and staff concerned to make them aware of the incident and an initial notification has been made to the office of the Information Commissioner regarding the data breach.
On Tuesday Mr Todd apologised to officers and staff over that day’s data breach, which he said was being treated as a critical incident.
The items stolen in Newtonabbey have not been recovered, but Mr Byrne said on Thursday that he was confident the data was inaccessible.
The Chief Constable added: ‘We haven’t recovered the stolen property, I know there is speculation about how and why it may have been stolen but we’re in now an investigation which is in its early stages, and we can’t confirm much else.’
He said they have means of wiping devices remotely, and laptops are protected by password.
‘So we’re quite confident that any information on those devices will not be accessible by a third party,’ Mr Byrne added.
Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris spoke to Mr Byrne on Wednesday about the breach, which he described as a ‘very serious matter’.
The Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI), which represents rank and file officers, said they have been inundated with calls from worried officers.
Police in the region are under threat from terrorists, with the current assessed level of threat at severe, meaning an attack is highly likely.
In February, senior detective John Caldwell was seriously injured when he was shot by gunmen at a sports complex in Co Tyrone.
Asked whether he was considering resigning after the data breach and the subsequent admission of a further theft of data, loss the Chief Constable said: ‘No, I am not’
PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd said that officers implicated in the second data breach had been contacted
The Police Federation of Northern Ireland has expressed concern over the welfare of officers implicated in the breach. In February, senior detective John Caldwell (pictured) was seriously injured when he was shot by gunmen at a sports complex in County Tyrone
Earlier this year, Mr Byrne said he receives briefings almost every day about plots to attack and kill his officers, adding that the ongoing threat from dissident republicans remains a ‘real worry’.
Ahead of the meeting, which was set to start at 10am and last for two hours, Mr Byrne said he was not considering resigning over the significant data breach.
Pressed by the Financial Times on whether he was intending to quit, he said: ‘No, I am not.’
PFNI chairman Liam Kelly said there is a need for credible explanations following the breaches.
‘This confirmation by the service makes matters worse,’ he said of the theft of the documents and laptop.
‘Urgent answers are required. How did this happen? What steps were put in place to advise and safeguard so many colleagues?
‘The major security breach was bad enough, but this heaps further additional pressure on the PSNI to produce credible explanations around data security protocols and the impact on officer safety.
‘Speed is of the essence. This cannot be dragged out as officers of all ranks throughout the service are seeking reassurance and an effective action plan containing all necessary measures to counter the damage and minimise risk.
‘I have been inundated with calls from worried officers.
‘The Police Federation has had in-depth discussions already with the PSNI senior command and they fully accept and recognise the gravity of this situation and the depth of officer anger and concern.’