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Army leaders have launched an inquiry after the identities of soldiers in the SAS were revealed in a fresh data breach.
Details about the elite unit, part of UK Special Forces, are usually kept so secret that its members are barred for life from discussing their involvement unless they receive prior approval.
News of the breach comes just days after it emerged the Ministry of Justice had taken out an unprecedented superinjunction after up to 100,000 lives were put at risk of reprisals from the Taliban in a catastrophic data leak.
Around 18,700 Afghans who applied for sanctuary in Britain after the withdrawal of western forces in 2021 had their names and contact details exposed after an MoD official emailed a secret database to trusted contacts in February 2022. A number of SAS members and MI6 operatives were also compromised in the major leak.
In yet another data lapse, the Sunday Times reported that details of at least 20 Special Forces soldiers recruited from the Grenadier Guards have been publicly available online for a decade.
In response, General Sir Roly Walker, the head of the army, has ordered an “immediate review” of the data sharing arrangements that led to the incident.
At least 20 least 20 SAS members have been named by two different regimental publications over more than a decade, according to the newspaper.
The Grenadier Guards in-house publication included a roll call of the names and current deployments of its most senior officers.
In the latest edition, published last year and available online, the names of ten men in the regiment allegedly appeared next to the codename “MAB” — shorthand for MoD A Block, which is the site of the UK Special Forces headquarters at the Regent’s Park Barracks in London.
The codename is well-known in military circles and means enemies would know which soldiers were linked to an elite unit.
The breaches were first reported in April and while another regiment removed similar publications, the remaining information on the Guards was only taken down on Friday.
Those whose details were compromised have been notified and protected, it is understood.
General Sir Roly Walker said: “The security of our people is of the utmost importance and we take any breach extremely seriously.
“[As a result of this incident], I have directed an immediate review into our data sharing arrangements with our regimental and corps associations to ensure appropriate guidance and safeguards are in place to best support the vital work they do.”
The Independent approached the Ministry of Defence for further comment.
