Northern Ireland police chief Simon Byrne admits leak of 10,000 staff details is ‘industrial scale’
Dissident republicans claim to be in possession of information leaked online in the worst security breach in Northern Irish history, the region’s most senior police officer has admitted.
Simon Byrne, the embattled chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, admitted that dissidents were claiming to have obtained data from the leak circulating on Whatsapp.
After four hours of questioning from Northern Ireland’s police board during an emergency meeting this morning, the officer also conceded that the force was likely to have to make major payouts either in fines from the regulator or compensation.
Speaking following the meeting, Mr Byrne, who was forced to cut short a holiday over the crisis, said he was “deeply sorry” about an “industrial scale breach of data”.