GCHQA GCHQ intern endangered national security, risked exposing 17 colleagues, and “threw away” thousands of hours of work when he took top secret data home, a court has heard.
Hasaan Arshad, 25, pleaded guilty to an offence under the Computer Misuse Act following an investigation led by the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command.
Arshad, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, was in “flagrant breach” of tight security rules when he used his mobile phone to remove material from a computer system and transfer it to his private computer on 24 August 2022.
He also admitted two charges of making an indecent photograph of a child found on his personal phone following his arrest.
The Manchester University computer science student appeared at the Old Bailey for sentencing by Mrs Justice McGowan.
The court was told that part of the hearing – including a detailed assessment of the harm caused – would be outlined behind closed doors in the absence of the press and public due to national security reasons.
‘Flagrant breach’
GCHQ is the UK’s intelligence agency focusing on communications data and areas such as cyber crime and infiltrating hidden messaging networks and works in conjunction with MI5 and MI6.
The highest levels of security are needed for GCHQ to carry out its work to gain information about threats to the UK from “hostile states or terrorists” by using lawful covert tools and techniques, the court was told.
Duncan Atkinson KC, prosecuting, said Arshad’s actions created a “significant risk” of damage to national security and “put the safety of intelligence agency personnel at risk.”
Arshad was coming to the end of a year placement with a team that worked on the development of “tools and techniques” to obtain information about threats to the UK, based at the secure GCHQ site near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
Arshad had undergone an GCHQ induction and was required to sign the Official Secrets Act.
It was made “abundantly clear” to him that access to top secret material had to be in controlled circumstances at “an extremely secure location”, Mr Atkinson said.
He added that Arshad committed a “flagrant breach” by removing material from a secure location to his home, where he “risked it falling into the wrong hands or being lost”.
“This significant security breach compromised lawful intelligence related activity that was being undertaken in the national interest.
“In doing so, he threw away many thousands of hours of work, and significant sums of taxpayers’ money.”
Arshad admitted removing data without authorisation “out of curiosity”.
He said he had no intention to hand over the data to anyone else.
He told police: “I would like to apologise for my actions. I removed the data simply out of curiosity.
“I’m sorry for my actions and I understand the stupidity of what I have done.”
Asked if he had breached the level of trust by removing sensitive data without authority, he replied: “No comment.”
Arshad’s lawyer Nina Grahame KC said he had been “reckless” “thoughtless and naïve”.
His internship had involved working on a “specific project” which he had been unable to complete before the end of the placement, she explained
He took the data home because he wanted to “continue and complete the most exciting and challenging work the defendant had ever undertaken” in the hope of gaining future employment at GCHQ, Ms Grahame said.
