HELLFIRE https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/01/student_gchq_theft/ A student at Britain’s top eavesdropping government agency has pleaded guilty to taking sensitive information home on the first day of his trial. Hasaan Arshad, 25, speaking at the Old Bailey in London, admitted that on August 24, 2022, he took his phone into a highly secure area of GCHQ, the UK’s intelligence and security branch, and downloaded top secret information – including some staff names – then returned home and transferred it to a hard drive connected to his PC. He pleaded guilty to breaking Section 3ZA of the Computer Misuse Act 1990, by “unauthorized acts causing, or creating risk of, serious damage.” Prosecutors said Arshad downloaded a “top secret” tool that they estimated was worth millions of pounds and had been developed using a “significant amount” of taxpayer money. Arshad stole the software two days before his year-long placement at GCHQ was due to end. Arshad, a student at the University of Manchester, was arrested and his home was searched on September 22, 2022, according to reports. After his computer equipment was searched, investigators found he had illegally created two indecent images of a child that month; he already pleaded guilty to two charges relating to those crimes in 2023. … The program involves shadowing intelligence staff and studying math, cryptography, and language skills. Students get free accommodation and £300 ($388) per week for the ten-week internship. Arshad attended the program in 2019 and was spending a year on placement at GCHQ with full security clearance, and stole the data two days before his placement ended. … Regards
HELLFIRE https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/16/gchq_intern_jailed/ – Spy school dropout: GCHQ intern jailed for swiping classified data A former GCHQ intern was jailed for seven-and-a-half years for stealing top-secret files during a year-long placement at the British intelligence agency. … “I removed the data simply out of curiosity to further develop some of the changes I was unable to complete during the course of my placement,” said Arshad. “I had intended to use my developments when I hopefully returned to my previous team.” … Regards