- Release of Two Men Arrested in PSNI Data Breach
- Details of the Data Breach
- Investigation and Previous Incidents
Two men who were arrested by detectives investigating a significant data breach at the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) have been released.
Included in the August data leak were the last names and initials of 10,000 PSNI employees.
The males, aged 21 and 22, were apprehended under the Terrorism Act on Saturday following a search in Portadown, County Armagh.
The police reported their release on bond.
Four arrests have been made as a result of the data breach.
On August 16, a 39-year-old man was detained on suspicion of gathering information that could be useful to militants. Later, he was released on bond.
On August 18, a 50-year-old man was apprehended and charged with terrorism-related offenses.
On August 21, he appeared in court and was remanded for four weeks.
‘Treat with vigour’
Dt Ch Insp Avine Kelly stated that the PSNI was attempting to determine who had data related to the data breach.
“We will take action to ensure that any identified criminal activity is dealt with firmly to protect our communities and the officers and staff who serve them.”
On August 8, PSNI staff information released in response to a FOI request was accidentally published online.
They were removed from a website at the direction of the PSNI shortly thereafter.
The police have verified that the list is in the possession of, among others, dissident republicans.
The Policing Board has also announced that an independent investigation will be conducted into the breach.
It was one of three discrete incidents of PSNI data breach being investigated by police.
A police laptop and radio, as well as a document containing the identities of more than 200 employees, were stolen from a private vehicle in Newtownabbey, County Antrim, on July 6.
A driving vehicle on Belfast’s M2 dropped a PSNI laptop and a police officer’s notebook on Thursday, August 17.
