The website of MI5 was breached by hackers when a search
engine related to it was penetrated.
The problem was not a direct threat but it is cause for concern,
according to security experts.
MI5 is the UK's
counter intelligence security agency which monitors security
threats in the UK.
According to a
report in the Daily Express the hackers could have put viruses
on the computers of people using the website and find out their
identities.
But a source said there was no confidential information at risk
because no sever was connected.
Paul Vlissidis, technical director at the penetration testing
division of NCC Group, said it is unlikely that any public facing
site such as this will be connected to servers with confidential
information.
A Government spokesperson said: "MI5 take security very
seriously. Their website is secure and hosted in a high-security
environment"
But Vlissidis said it is cause for concern. "It is a concern
because the vulnerability should have been picked up in penetration
tests."
Matt Hampton, at security firm Imerja said the hack only
effected information in the browser and not confidential
information on the server.
"However the fact that this was not picked up by our own
security service is a serious concern."
The problem has now been fixed.