OFFICIALS are scrambling to protect up to 40 officers at MI5’s HQ in Northern Ireland after a security gaffe.
The identities of dozens of surveillance operatives and police who work closely with the security services were released in an online blunder.
Cyber experts at MI5 are rushing to identify everyone who downloaded the document, which includes the surnames, initials, departments and locations of 10,000 police.
Whitehall sources expressed concern for the safety of those working undercover in anti-terror roles and within organised crime gangs.
Members of the organised crime unit and officers based at ports and airports were also named, with the data visible for up to three hours.