China Seen Using Hacks to Build Profiles of UK Defense Personnel

China is likely using data from hacks of UK government institutions to build profiles of British military personnel and people in other sensitive roles as Beijing expands espionage against the US and its allies, government officials and cyber experts said.

State-backed hackers obtained the names, bank account details and in some cases addresses of thousands of British soldiers, sailors and air force pilots in a cyberattack on the payroll system of Britain’s Ministry of Defence, Defense Secretary Grant Shapps told the House of Commons on Monday. He declined to attribute blame, but said the UK cannot rule out the involvement of another state. Government officials earlier Tuesday attributed it to China.