MoD Leaks Nuclear Sub Secrets In Cut-And-Paste Gaffe

The Ministry of Defence briefly exposed secret information about nuclear submarines on its site, thanks to an embarassing error in blacking out parts of a document posted online.

The document, discussing nuclear reactors for future replacements for the British Trident nuclear fleet, was published following a Freedom of Information request by anti-nuclear campaigners. Large sections dealing with the weaknesses in current submarines were blacked out – but were easily readable by a simple cut-and-paste operation.

MoD staff have previously been found to have leaked secrets on Facebook, the Ministry has been found to have lost 340 laptops in two years, and actually lost an entire server in 2008.

A schoolboy blunder

The document, from the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator, Commodore Andrew McFarlane, apparently said that Trident subs are vulnerable to accidents, which could be triggered by a disaffected sailor. The subs’ ability to react was branded “unacceptable” in the redacted part of the document, according to the Daily Star

Several whole pages of the document had been blacked out, but MoD staff effectively highlighted them in black,  by simply changing the background colour to black. Readers simply had to copy the text to another document to read it, a mistake branded a “schoolboy blunder” by security expert Graham Cluley of Sophos.

Details of the US nuclear sub fleet’s safety measures were also included in the document, according to reports.

The mistake was pointed out by a journalist, and secure a secure version of the document is now posted online.

MoD spokesmen thanked the journalist and admitted the gaffe was “hugely embarrassing”, according to reports.

The leak was “potentially catastrophic”, and “hugely interesting” to the UK’s enemies,” according to Conservative MP Patrick Mercer.

The whole incident is reminiscent of other errors in military and nuclear security. Last year details of the Sellafield nuclear plant were left on a USB stick in a hotel