A Manchester University student who interned at the UK's Government Communications, Intelligence, Cyber and Security Headquarters (GCHQ) stole top-secret software worth millions of pounds to develop. He says he had no financial motive and understands the "foolishness" of his actions. But will the confession help in court?
A Manchester University student who interned at the UK's Government Communications, Intelligence, Cyber and Security Headquarters (GCHQ) stole top-secret software worth millions of pounds to develop. He says he had no financial motive and understands the "foolishness" of his actions. But will the confession help in court?
Hassan Arshad, 25, admitted in a London court that on August 24, 2022, he took his phone into a high-security area of GCHQ and downloaded top-secret information, including the names of some employees, then returned home and transferred it to a hard drive connected to his PC, The Registerreported .
He pleaded guilty to violating the Computer Misuse Act by "unauthorized acts that caused or created a risk of causing serious harm."
Prosecutors said Arshad downloaded a “top secret” tool that they estimated cost millions of pounds and was developed using a “significant amount” of taxpayers’ money. Arshad stole the software two days before the end of his year-long internship at GCHQ.
On September 22, 2022, the student was arrested and his home was searched. Investigators also found on his phone a discussion about “reward for mistakes” and a mention of “10,000 for a simple leak of information,” but the student denied any financial motive.
“I deleted the data simply out of curiosity to finalize some changes that I was unable to complete during my internship. I intended to use my learnings when I hopefully return to my previous team,” he said. “I regret my actions and understand the stupidity of what I did. I understand the potential harm and risk in obtaining the data. I acknowledged that I deleted this data and realized that it was unwise to do so. I took steps to ensure that the data was not compromised.”
The crime was committed “carelessly,” Arshad’s lawyer told the court. He is currently out on bail and banned from using the dark web. Sentencing is due on June 13, and the judge warned the student he could face a prison sentence.
