Dissident republicans claim to possess leaked police information – Chief Constable Simon Byrne

By PA Reporter
Published 10th Aug 2023, 15:01 BST
Updated 10th Aug 2023, 15:02 BST
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Dissident republicans claim to be in possession of information about police officers circulating on WhatsApp following a data blunder, Northern Ireland's Chief Constable Simon Byrne has said.

Hundreds of police officers have voiced fears for their safety following the data breach which affected some 10,000 Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers and staff. Speaking following an emergency meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board on Thursday, Mr Byrne said he was "deeply sorry" about an "industrial scale breach of data".

He said: "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." He added the force had not yet been able to verify the substance of the claim.

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Up to 40 officers at MI5's headquarters in Co Down are reportedly among the names involved in the blunder earlier this week, with moves under way to ensure their protection. The incident happened when the PSNI responded to a Freedom of Information request seeking the number of officers and staff of all ranks and grades across the organisation.

Press Eye Northern IrelandThursday 10th August 2023 Photo Jonathan Porter / Press EyePSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne Northern Ireland Policing Board special meeting at Cromac Avenue, Gasworks, Belfast.The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) mistakenly shared details about 10,000 officers and staff on Tuesday.Details of a second data breach emerged less than 24 hours later.PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne will face questions about the crisis when he appears before the body overseeing policing in Northern Ireland later.Press Eye Northern IrelandThursday 10th August 2023 Photo Jonathan Porter / Press EyePSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne Northern Ireland Policing Board special meeting at Cromac Avenue, Gasworks, Belfast.The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) mistakenly shared details about 10,000 officers and staff on Tuesday.Details of a second data breach emerged less than 24 hours later.PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne will face questions about the crisis when he appears before the body overseeing policing in Northern Ireland later.
Press Eye Northern IrelandThursday 10th August 2023 Photo Jonathan Porter / Press EyePSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne Northern Ireland Policing Board special meeting at Cromac Avenue, Gasworks, Belfast.The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) mistakenly shared details about 10,000 officers and staff on Tuesday.Details of a second data breach emerged less than 24 hours later.PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne will face questions about the crisis when he appears before the body overseeing policing in Northern Ireland later.

In the published response to this request a table was embedded which contained the rank and grade data, but also included detailed information that attached the surname, initial, location and departments for all PSNI employees. Details of another breach following the theft of documents and a laptop from a car in Newtownabbey in July emerged on Wednesday.

Police in Northern Ireland are under a threat from terrorists assessed as severe. Mr Byrne cut short a family holiday to return to Belfast to be questioned by politicians at the Policing Board meeting, which was held in private.