Power grid hack fears after dark web password leak

'Bad actors' offered classified UK military documents

- BRYONY GOOCH

Hundreds of passwords linked to government departments have been leaked on the dark web.

A report seen exclusively by The Independent shows that more than 700 email addresses and corresponding passwords from across nine government domains have been leaked online in the past year, creating fears that taxpayers' sensitive data, or "critical systems" such as power grids, could be targeted by hackers.

There have also been nine attempts to sell classified UK military and Nato-related documents to "bad actors" - which experts warn could "directly undermine national security".

The report by NordStellar, a threat exposure management platform that monitors the dark web, says the UK government has "dangerous vulnerability gaps" in its cybersecurity strategy, making it "a prime target for cyber criminals" and raising the risk of sensitive information ending up on the dark web.

One cybersecurity expert warned that the worst type of governmental data breach on the dark web could look like "the Afghan lists on steroids" a reference to the catastrophic Ministry of Defence data breach of 2022 in which the details of thousands of applicants to a UK resettlement scheme were leaked online, potentially putting thousands of lives at risk.

Among the government departments, the most targeted was the Ministry of Justice, which had 195 passwords leaked on the dark web in the past year. This was followed by the Department of Work and Pensions, which had 122, and the Ministry of Defence, with 111 passwords.

The Home Office, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Department for Transport, UK Parliament, Department of Health and Social Care and HM Revenue & Customs also had login details leaked in the past year.