MoD emails intercepted by 'Russian' server

An internet virus was last night blamed for disabling the IT systems of 75% of Royal Navy ships, before it apparently diverted defence staff's emails to a server in Russia.



News of the cyber attack only emerged thanks to an unnamed MoD official, reportedly worried that the department is failing to take IT security seriously, as implied last week .



He shared his fears with a Tory MP, who said he revealed "email traffic from some RAF stations" was sent to a Russian server, but could not cite "any evidence of active Russian involvement".



Asked to explain the whistle blower's account, the MoD told the Sunday Times it was investigating the virus, but said it was unaware emails had been sent to a server in Russia.



Yet an RAF source said the two cyber incidents were interlinked, telling the paper the "former eastern bloc" was where the surprisingly sophisticated program originated.



Out of the 24 RAF stations it hit, some were recently used by the MoD to scramble fighter aircraft to head off Russian bombers testing British air defences, the source said.



The virus was also blamed for damaging IT systems on three quarters of the Royal Navy fleet, though the MoD denied secure systems were affected or that Russia was being considered as its author.