Secret MoD files on nuclear bases ‘posted on dark web’ by Russian hackers
Russian hackers have been accused of stealing hundreds of sensitive military documents and publishing them on the dark web.
The supposedly stolen files contain details of eight RAF and Royal Navy bases as well as Ministry of Defence (MoD) staff names and emails.
The Mail on Sunday reported that there was information about a number of sensitive RAF and Navy bases, including RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk which is where US Air Force’s F-35 jets are based and their nuclear bombs are believed to be.
Other bases include RAF Porteath and RAF Predannack.
Information including details of contractors’ names, car registrations, mobile numbers, MoD personnel names and email addresses, have also been uploaded.
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Cybercriminals had accessed the files by infiltrating Dodd Group, a maintenance and construction contractor.
For more than 75 years, the company has been at the forefront of building services engineering and property maintenance.
Dodd Group said that a ransomware attack had gained temporary access to its internal systems.
The Dodd Group’s network was first breached on September 23, 2025.
Since then, the criminal group has begun releasing the material in stages – the latest release was stage two out of four.
A Dodd Group spokesperson said: ‘We took immediate steps to contain the incident, swiftly secure our systems and engaged a specialist IT forensic firm to investigate what happened.
‘While our forensic investigation is ongoing, we are aware of claims that data taken from our systems have been published online.’
A Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesman said: ‘We take a robust and proactive approach to cyberthreats that could pose risks to national interests.
‘We are actively investigating claims that information relating to the MoD has been published on the dark web.
‘To safeguard sensitive operational information, we will not comment any further on the details.’
This breach follows last week’s warning from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) that the number of significant hacking attacks in the UK have reached a record high.
The NCSC revealed it had investigated 429 incidents in the year, but that 204 of those – 48% – were classed as ‘nationally significant’.
The MoD investigation is ongoing.