PSNI staff details leaked in "monumental" data breach

A data breach in the PSNI has revealed the surname, initial, the rank or grade, the location and the departments of all current PSNI officers.

PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd, who is the senior information risk owner of the police service, has said the responsibility for the information leak is internal.

Mr Todd clarified that every serving police officer and member of police staff has had data compromised.

"Regrettably, this evening, I've had to inform the Information Commissioner's office of a significant data breach that we're responsible for," he told media in Belfast on Tuesday evening," he said.

"What's happened is we've received a Freedom of Information request, that's quite a routine inquiry, nothing untoward in that.

"We've responded to that request, which was seeking to understand the total numbers of officers and staff at all ranks and grade across the organisation, and in the response, unfortunately, one of our colleagues has embedded the source data, which informed that request.

"So, what was within that data was the surname, initial, the rank or grade, the location and the departments for each of our current employees across the police service."

ACC Chris Todd also has said the severe terrorist threat facing PSNI officers has made news of the extensive data breach "the last thing that anybody in the organisation wants to be hearing".

"I understand that that will be of considerable concern to many of my colleagues and their families indeed, at the moment," he said.

"We operate in an environment at the moment where there's a severe threat to our colleagues from Northern Ireland-related terrorism and this is the last thing that anybody in the organisation wants to be hearing this evening.

"So, I owe it to all my colleagues to make sure that this is investigated thoroughly, and we've initiated that and will keep them informed, keep all the staff associations informed of that investigation, and we've been engaging with them throughout the afternoon.

"The information was taken down very quickly, but nevertheless, I do appreciate the concern, of course we will seek to find the extent to which that has been viewed.

"What I would say is that although the error was our own, once that information was out there if anybody did have access to it, I would ask them to delete it straight away."

Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd has said there is no immediate security concerns arising from the PSNI data breach.

"In terms of the security for individuals, there's nothing at the moment to suggest there's any immediate security concerns, but we have put actions in place to ensure that if anything does arise we will be aware of that, and then we can mitigate accordingly."

He added: "This is human error.

"We've looked into the circumstances, we'll continue with our investigation, but the very early considerations are that this is simple human error and the people who have been involved in the process have acted in good faith.

"We've identified some steps that we can take to ensure that it doesn't happen again.

"It is regrettable but it is simple human error."

Liam Kelly, chair of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI), has described a potential major security breach of officers' details by the PSNI as "monumental".

On Tuesday evening it emerged that surnames, staff numbers, roles and where officers are based were published as part of an FOI request.

Mr Kelly has said an urgent inquiry is required and that members of the PFNI are "appalled".

"This is a breach of monumental proportions. Even if it was done accidentally, it still represents a data and security breach that should never have happened," he said.

"Rigorous safeguards ought to have been in place to protect this valuable information which, if in the wrong hands, could do incalculable damage.

"The men and women I represent are appalled by this breach. They are shocked, dismayed and justifiably angry. Like me, they are demanding action to address this unprecedented disclosure of sensitive information.

"We have many colleagues who do everything possible to protect their police roles. We're fortunate that the PSNI spreadsheet didn't contain officer and staff home addresses, otherwise we would be facing a potentially calamitous situation.

"Inadequate or poor oversight of FOI procedures must be addressed and addressed urgently. New safeguards are obviously required to prevent this from ever happening again."