Police in Northern Ireland are “confident” the information released in last week’s major data breach “is in the hands of dissident republicans,” PSNI chief constable Simon Byrne said on Monday evening.
It was now a “planning assumption that they will use this list to generate fear and uncertainty as well as intimidating or targeting officers and staff,” he added.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief was speaking after data appearing to be from the leak was posted on a wall opposite the Sinn Féin office on the Falls Road in west Belfast.
Sinn Féin MLA and Policing Board spokeperson Gerry Kelly said it comprised approximately three to four A4 pages of the leaked documents but with the names of officers removed.
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It also included a photograph of Mr Kelly and a “threatening message” which read “Gerry, we know who your mates are.”
Mr Kelly said it was “sinister” and an attempt to intimidate him, as well as a “very public indication that the dissident [republicans] do have access to the sensitive information in the data leak document.
“It therefore represents a very real threat to the officers and the civilian staff involved,” he said.
Mr Byrne said the PSNI was “working round the clock to assess the risk and take measures to mitigate it” and measures were in place “to reassure and advise our workforce of what this risk means for them.”
Police had been given the “green light for support” by the UK government “if we need to take new measures” to protect officers, staff and their families, which could include additional financial assistance, he continued.
“Contrary to commentary circulating, we are not seeing any movement of officers or staff out of the organisation” following the data breach, Mr Byrne said.
A police investigation has been launched into the posting of the data on the wall. Mr Byrne said its appearance was “the first indication that started to vindicate our planning assumption that this list had fallen into the wrong hands”.
Last week the PSNI mistakenly released the surname, first initial and employment details - including where they work and their department - of every serving police officer and civilian member of staff – more than 10,000 people - alongside a response to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request.
Following the leak dissident republicans claimed they had accessed the information, which was available online for several hours before it was removed.
Almost 3,000 police officers – almost half of all serving officers – have now registered an interest in joining any legal action which might be taken against the PSNI over the data breach, according to the Police Federation of Northern Ireland.
The chair of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, Liam Kelly, said the working hypothesis had been that the information “would end up in the hands of dissidents and organised criminals” and the chief constable’s announcement therefore came as “no great surprise” but it was nevertheless “deeply worrying.”
He said it was “all the more imperative for each and every colleague to exercise maximum vigilance.
“We have to be strong and determined to do everything we can to minimise risk and that means varying the routes we take to and from work, changing routines and re-assessing our personal security both on and off duty,” he said.
Addressing reporters at a press conference in Belfast on Monday evening, Mr Byrne said the PSNI had been “strongly supported by a range of cyber specialists from across the policing system” would “continue to liaise with the policing board and UK government as well as other partners as we develop our response to this matter.”
Mr Byrne also re-iterated the measures which had been put in place to support employees, but said the PSNI had not “caught up” with 45 members of staff as of Monday morning.
DUP MLA and member of the Policing Board, Trevor Clarke, said the posting of the document was “clearly an attempt not just to score political points, but to heighten concerns amongst those within the PSNI.
“Threats against police officers, civilian staff or political representatives were never justified and they must be condemned today also,” he said.
“The police have worked on a basis from the outset that it may have fallen into the hands of dissident republicans, and it was right to take that cautious approach.
“In that sense this incident does not change the overall focus of the police, but it reinforces that the threat from this leak will have to be monitored potentiality for some years to come.”
In a statement the Northern Secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, said the UK government “remained committed to providing specialist support and expertise” and would “remain in close contact with the chief constable and his senior team.”
