Data breach could have national security implications beyond jurisdiction of PSNI: Dr William Matchett

Mr Matchett also said the lapse that allowed last week’s unauthorised publication of information on all 10,000 PSNI officers and staff, is in stark contrast to the high level of security that protects information on the recipients of the so-called ‘comfort letters’ issued to former terrorists, and similarly sensitive material.​

The "industrial scale” data breach on August 8 occurred in response to a routine Freedom of Information (FoI) request, when the PSNI published the name, role, location and shift pattern of every officer and civilian employee online for almost three hours.

It was confirmed on Monday evening that dissident republicans are in possession of the leaked information, and several officers and staff members are said to be considering moving house due to fears their personal security may have been compromised.

On Wednesday afternoon, a Police Federation spokesperson said that 3,450 officers – more than half of the force – had expressed an interest in seeking compensation.

Mr Matchett said the nefarious use of the leaked information could cause instability, and added: "There are obvious concerns over the Real IRA, but I would say those most interested in the spreadsheet will be Moscow. If you make one part of the UK weaker, you make the whole of the UK weaker."

In March 2022, the Irish Government blocked the planned expansion of the Russian embassy in Dublin on national security grounds.

The development was, according to the minister’s order, "likely to be harmful to the security and defence of the State and the State’s relations with other states".

Mr Matchett also said he believes that MI5 might now be questioning “if the PSNI is still a trusted partner"."I suspect there will now be a degree of 'standing off,' although you may well find that that was the case before this [breach] anyway."

Mr Matchett said he fears there is a culture within the PSNI's senior command team that does not put enough emphasis on protecting the interests of the rank and file officers, and that has spread to the protection of sensitive data.

"There is absolutely no way there would be a leak of the list of the 'comfort letters' [that were issued to former IRA terrorists]. They will be jealously guarded and, if they did get out, then there are quite a few political parties calling for the chief constable's head. If that ever happened it would be career ending for any officer,” he said.

In the News Letter on Wednesday, TUV leader Jim Allister said last week’s data breach “could hardly be more serious” and said the chief constable should step down.

"His resignation would provoke few tears, nor create a vacuum as that is why we have deputies and assistant chief constables,” Mr Allister added.

Mr Matchett said he is one of several police officers over the years affected by the unauthorised release of data during the judicial process.

"Even though the threat is nowhere near what it was in the bad old days, [the data breach] still sends out a terrible signal to your own people".He said that with the PSNI already in financial difficulties, it was likely the UK Government would have to "bail them out" with the multi-million pound cost of dealing with the aftermath."The PSNI doesn't need that pressure on top of everything else."

Earlier this week, Chief Constable Simon Byrne the PSNI is “working around the clock” to assess the risk, and that safety remains the “top priority”.

He said: “We have measures in place to reassure and advise our workforce of what this risk means for them. We will continue to liaise with the policing board and the UK government as well as other partners as we develop our response to this matter.”

Mr Byrne said the PSNI had been given a “green light” by the UK Government to take new measures to protect staff, and that he was confident it would be “standing by” if that included additional finances.