According to an officer who oversaw the Defense Ministry's academic arm at the time, a cyberattack on the UK Defense Academy identified in March had a substantial impact on its operations.

In his first interview since leaving the military in August, Air Marshal Edward Stringer told Sky News that the attack had damaged the academy's operational output, forcing it to bring forward costly plans for an IT upgrade.

"The operations had big implications, but they were manageable," he said, adding that they were only manageable because individuals worked hard to keep things running.

The main concern, according to Stringer, was that the hackers would use the academy as a "backdoor" to more sensitive portions of the ministry's IT systems. He ruled out the possibility of more infractions.

According to Sky News, the ministry's digital branch started an investigation into the cyberattack, but no conclusions were made public.

Stringer claimed the suspects ranged from state actors including China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran to actual hackers searching for a hole to exploit in order to launch a ransomware attack.