UK
Dissident republicans claiming to be in possession of leaked PSNI information, chief constable says
Dissident republicans are claiming to be in possession of information about PSNI officers which was revealed in a data breach, the force’s chief constable has said.
Simon Byrne said he was “deeply sorry” for the “industrial scale breach of data that has gone into the public domain”, describing it as an “unprecedented crisis”.
The veteran officer briefed reporters after taking questions at a meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board.
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”, Mr Byrne said
He added: “We are now aware that dissident republicans claim to be in possession of some of this information circulating on WhatsApp.
“As we speak, we are advising officers and staff about how to deal with that and any further risk that they may face.”
Asked to elaborate, Mr Byrne said his comment about dissident republicans was “a claim” and his force had not yet been able to verify it.
Nor has the PSNI seen any of the “information that dissident republicans assert that they have”.
Simon Byrne (left) with Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd
It is being considered, however, whether some officers need to be moved from their usual places of work, and the breach “raises quite legitimate concerns for our workforce”, Mr Byrne said.
Others may have unusual surnames that could lead to early identification, he added, while certain officers have been advised to come off social media.
The force is working “flat out” to get answers to the “questions that are on everybody’s lips”, Mr Byrne said.
When asked about his position, he said there had been a “breach of trust” but leadership was not about “walking away”.
He added: “It’s facing up to your responsibilities and the organisation needs consistency and calm heads at the moment to lead us through what we accept is an unprecedented crisis.”
Asked if he thought he was the man to rebuild trust in the Police Service of Northern Ireland, he replied: “Yes, I do.”
Mr Byrne said that in future, “nothing else will be issued on a spread sheet” and a PDF will be used, making it more difficult to link to other formats.
It only takes one man with a gun
The Police Service of Northern Ireland is attempting to verify if its worst fears have become reality.
The fact that dissident Irish republicans claim to have accessed the personal data of 10,000 police officers and staff is a security nightmare.
On one hand, it is exactly what you would expect them to claim because they know it will strike fear into the hearts of police officers and their families.
Renegade republicans – still pursuing Irish unity by violent means – regard officers of the British Crown as “legitimate targets”.
In recent months, various breakaway factions have come together under the name of the New IRA.
Security sources estimate there to be fewer than 100 of them still actively engaged in violence but it only takes one man with a gun.
Earlier this year, MI5 raised the terror threat level in Northern Ireland back to severe, meaning attacks are highly likely.
When attacks are deemed highly likely and there’s a possibility they have your name, checking under your car for bombs is a very necessary precaution.
Earlier this week, the PSNI declared a “critical incident” after releasing information including the surnames, initials, ranks or grades, work locations and departments of all its staff as part of a Freedom of Information (FoI) request.
A second breach involved stolen documents and a laptop.
“We haven’t recovered the stolen property,” Mr Byrne said. “I know there is speculation about how and why it may have been stolen but we’re now in an investigation which is in its early stages, and we can’t confirm much else.”
Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly, who sits on the Northern Ireland Policing Board, said the session with Mr Byrne had been “instructive and very robust”, adding: “There were many questions asked. We got answers to some of them.”
Me Kelly continued: “The issue around whether it is human error or a systems error was answered at the end. I think while human error was involved, there was also a problem with the system.
“I understand they changed part of the system which would resolve that problem at this moment.”
Speaking to Sky News earlier, senior DUP MP Sammy Wilson said Mr Byrne should think about whether remaining in his job was “sustainable”.