Richard Holmes

Cyber criminals from Russia and Iran target MoD staff with fake LinkedIn job ads Cyber criminals from Russia and Iran are using sophisticated AI-generated job adverts in a brazen attempt to breach devices belonging to UK and allied military officials

🚨NEW: Cyber criminals from Russia & Iran are posting fake job ads to lure MOD & NATO personnel, contractors, and suppliers — using offers to carry out identity theft, credential harvesting, and malware injection.

My latest: inews.co.uk/news/cyber-c...

Cyber criminals from Russia and Iran target MoD staff with fake LinkedIn job ads Cyber criminals from Russia and Iran are using sophisticated AI-generated job adverts in a brazen attempt to breach devices belonging to UK and allied military officials

🚨NEW: Cyber criminals from Russia & Iran are posting fake job ads to lure MOD & NATO personnel, contractors, and suppliers — using offers to carry out identity theft, credential harvesting, and malware injection.

My latest: inews.co.uk/news/cyber-c...

Russia 'perfecting' China's sabotage tactics for war against West European countries are ill-prepared for threat of co-ordinated sabotage attacks by Russia and China, a classified EU intelligence report has warned

🚨NEW: Russia and China are working together to perfect sabotage attacks on Europe and Taiwan, a classified EU intel report has warned.

The report, written in spring, underscores concerns that Beijing and Moscow are working in parallel against the West.
inews.co.uk/news/russia-...

MI5 spies are quitting for better pay and work-life balance The UK's domestic security agency is losing staff in search of better career progression, sources have said

: Budget cuts and promotion freezes are seeing staff at UK intelligence agencies leave for the private sector.

With the promise of better pay, career progression and better work-life balance, the govt faces a drain of talent from security services.

inews.co.uk/news/mi5-spi...

One former MoD official said there was “a lot of argument internally” over who “should and shouldn’t be coming back” to the UK.

A military intel source said vetting was little more than “sending the list out to blokes in-country [Afghanistan] and asking what they think”.

The most recent data fiasco sparked a scramble to resettle Afghan nationals.

Govt departments and UK intelligence agencies had to work together to decide who to bring to the UK. But the classified nature of the information they were dealing with made it hard to vet individuals.

Also in the report: Insiders said Britain’s rushed effort to resettle Afghan nationals in the wake of the leak descended into chaos amid poor planning, internal disputes and questionable vetting over who should be brought into the country.

The source, who helped manage the fallout from the leak while at the MoD, warned the incident represented the “eroding” importance placed on data protection and operational security at the department.

A former senior military source said the decision, along with a reduced understanding of IT, paved the way for a defence official to mistakenly leak a list containing the personal information of nearly 19,000 Afghans, putting lives at risk.

MoD systems used to block emails sent outside its secure network unless the sender typed “Release/Authorised” into the subject line.

The measure was intended to protect against accidental leaks, but it was abandoned in 2018 after staff complained it was “inconvenient”.

Crucial MoD email safety check was scrapped before Afghan data leak Defence and security insiders claim essential data protections for MoD emails were removed before the data leak

EXC: The MoD scrapped a crucial email safety check years before the Afghan data leak.

Safeguards mitigating against this type of leak were stripped away, security awareness declined, and infighting between gov depts ensued.

Fresh details for @theipaper: inews.co.uk/news/crucial...

UK set up secret Afghan immigration scheme after data leak and gagged media ‘Super-injunction’ lifted two years after 25,000 were placed at risk of Taliban reprisals

🚨 🚨 🚨 UK govt set up a secret multibillion-pound scheme to relocate thousands of Afghans to Britain after a data leak put them at risk of murder and torture by the Taliban...

Then gagged the media with a super-injunction for almost two years

www.ft.com/content/f6b4...

Nato unit helping combat Putin's 'hybrid warfare' threat on British soil From arson to cyber attacks, the UK faces an unprecedented threat from Russia

They added that “many” incidents witnessed on Britain's land, sea, air, and screen are currently being linked to Kremlin-backed operations.

Full report here: inews.co.uk/news/nato-un...

A NATO official said these hybrid tactics are meant to create “a creeping sense of instability” and to “undermine the public’s trust in their institutions and governments.”

Intelligence officials have warned the Kremlin may be laying the groundwork for future sabotage operations against critical national infrastructure.

Think undersea cables, energy grids, transport.

NATO’s innovation, hybrid and cyber division is working with the UK to help stop cyber attacks, and investigate the Kremlin’s role in sabotage and disinformation campaigns.

🚨 NEW: A specialist NATO unit is working with British intelligence to investigate and prevent “hybrid warfare” attacks by Russia on UK soil.

This is a key alignment in response to increased aggression from Putin. Here’s why it matters 👇

The ban was enforced at RAF Wyton - home to the UK’s premier military intelligence hub, the Pathfinder Building

It is also understood certain EVs have been prohibited from the Salisbury Plain military training area. The site has been used to train Ukrainian soldiers.

Senior officials fear that EVs driven by personnel might be being tracked, while sensors in the cars could be used to collect intelligence and send it back to Beijing.

The directive has not been imposed across the entire UK military estate and only applies to selected sites.

Electric cars with Chinese parts banned from UK military sites over spying fears Military staff working at Britain's premier intelligence hub have been told to park their EVs at least two miles away over fears their cars could be spying on them

NEW: The Ministry of Defence has banned electric vehicles with Chinese components from sensitive sites and military training bases.

Staff at secretive military sites have been told they must park EVs made using Chinese technology miles away from key buildings.

inews.co.uk/news/electri...

UK spies fears intelligence leaks after Trump team blunder Higher restrictions now likely to be placed on intelligence sent to US, sources say, as growing distrust clouds 'special relationship'

British security officials have “deep-rooted fears” about sharing intelligence with the US.

Higher restrictions are now likely to be placed on intelligence material sent to US counterparts which will be distributed on a “need to know” basis.
inews.co.uk/news/uk-spie...

UK Special Forces on standby to join Ukraine peacekeeping force The elite units could be deployed rapidly, gather intelligence and counter Russian 'greyzone' activity, say experts

Exclusive | The elite units could be deployed rapidly, gather intelligence and counter Russian 'greyzone' activity, say experts

@richardholmes.bsky.social reports

UK Special Forces on standby to join Ukraine peace-keeping force UK Special Forces can help with intelligence gathering and possibly countering any Russian 'greyzone' activity in Ukraine

EXCLUSIVE: British Special Forces have been put on standby to head to Ukraine as part of the UK’s peacekeeping mission.

Directive from Govt to military signifies increasing UK confidence in a Russia/Ukraine ceasefire.

inews.co.uk/news/special...

Closer ties between Trump and Putin are making UK intelligence officials uneasy.

As the UK becomes Putin’s number one enemy, it does so with lingering doubts about its closest and most trusted ally.

My latest: t.co/Yi5DBsxbA3

Musk cuts the team finding Ukrainian children stolen by Russia Donald Trump’s federal cost-cutting - led by DOGE's Elon Musk – has now hit the unit helping rescue Ukrainian children taken by Russia

EXCLUSIVE: Investigators tracking Ukranian children abducted and taken to Russia have had to stop work as the Conflict Observatory's funding is cut by Elon Musk's DOGE.

The funding freeze impacts intelligence sharing w Ukraine and the efforts to bring these kids home
inews.co.uk/news/world/m...

The UK is unprepared and vulnerable to Russian cyber attacks. Here's why Years of underfunding, recruitment and IT issues leave the country at 'critical risk' of cyber attack, senior officials warn

Four senior Cabinet Office officials have said years of inactivity, underfunding, and recruitment problems have exposed the UK to a growing threat of cyber warfare from hostile states and international criminals.

Scoop from @richardholmes.bsky.social inews.co.uk/news/uk-unpr...

UK security services' concern over intelligence sharing with Trump administration Fears over the US weakening its support for NATO and reports a senior Trump official proposed axing Canada from the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance have caused disquiet in intelligence circles

SCOOP: Informal discussions have taken place between UK and US security officials over the way British intelligence is being used and disseminated by US counterparts.

Talks sought to steady nerves and maintain a long-standing tradition of intel sharing.
inews.co.uk/news/uk-secu...

Oh it certainly does

Trump could threaten to withhold intelligence from UK, security sources warn Special Report: Security officials on both sides of the Atlantic are waiting to see how the Trump presidency will impact on the sharing of intelligence

US and UK security sources warned back in NOVEMBER that Trump would use intelligence sharing as a bargaining chip - unfortunately, it seems they were right.

Read our original report here:
inews.co.uk/news/trump-t...

MoD faces mounting pressure to probe Russia link to drone sightings at RAF bases More MPs call for the Ministry of Defence to investigate suspected Russian links to drone sightings over RAF air bases after revelations by The i Paper

🚨DRONES LATEST: Government faces mounting pressure to investigate Russian links to UK drone sightings.

Labour MP joins the call for "urgent enquiry" as Shadow Home Sec refers evidence to parliament's Intelligence Committee.
inews.co.uk/news/mod-pre...