British intelligence trainee admits to stealing top-secret GCHQ data

A 25-year-old trainee at the British intelligence agency GCHQ has pleaded guilty to a case that put the UK’s national security at risk. He illegally transferred classified information from a government computer to his personal device.

Hassan Arshad, a student at the University of Manchester, was an intern at GCHQ, a key British intelligence agency specializing in cyber espionage and electronic intelligence. On August 24, 2022, he used his personal smartphone to download top-secret files from an internal GCHQ computer and then transferred them to an external hard drive connected to his home computer.

Arshad was arrested a month later, on September 22. According to the Daily Mail, the stolen files contained information about the agency’s intelligence tool, as well as the names of employees. Part of the trial is being held behind closed doors, with no access to journalists or the public.

In addition to this incident, Arshad has also previously admitted to two episodes related to the storage of child pornography, which were discovered during the investigation in September 2022. He will be sentenced on June 13.

GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) is one of the main intelligence agencies of the United Kingdom, responsible for the information security of the state. The “Top Secret” category is the highest level of classification of data, the leakage of which could lead to the death of people or directly threaten national security. Such incidents are extremely rare, and investigations are conducted as closed as possible due to the level of risk.

This case highlights that even thorough personnel checks do not guarantee security in intelligence services. Insider threats remain a very important problem for government agencies, and illegal copying of data is not only a violation of the rules, but also a potential disaster for the country. Arshad is an example of how an intern can compromise the integrity of the most secure systems.