The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said there is no evidence to suggest a systems or data breach after the Royal Navy’s new sea drones were found to include a Chinese-made component. <\/p>\n
During what the MoD called a “routine cyber vulnerability assessment” of the drones, the cameras were found to have sent a squark \u2013 also known as a heartbeat communication \u2013 to a Chinese IP address. <\/p>\n
A squark can signal when the system is switched on, is functioning properly, but it can also carry location information.<\/p>\n
“A thorough investigation found no evidence of MoD data or systems being accessed, compromised or transmitted externally,” an MoD spokesperson said. <\/p>\n
“Our assurance and testing processes are designed to identify and address potential vulnerabilities early, and we continue to undertake routine security activity across our systems and equipment,” the MoD added.<\/p>\n
This is embarrassing for the MoD which, like most Nato countries, has banned Chinese components from military equipment – not least over fears of spying.<\/p>\n
The K3 Scout sea drones can remotely carry out surveillance, and according to their supplier, “support a wide range of mission profiles including maritime awareness, force protection, logistics and precision strike”.<\/p>\n
The supplier of the Royal Navy’s 20 new K3 sea drones, Kraken, said it was given assurances about security. But a third party supplier of the drone camera still had Chinese-made components.<\/p>\n
Kraken has said it is confident no sensitive information has been shared.<\/p>\n