A major data breach has exposed the names and rank of every single serving police officer in Northern Ireland.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said details of officers’ surnames, staff numbers, roles and where officers are based were accidentally published as part of an FOI request.
The breach sparked security concerns because of the threat posed to officers by dissident republican paramilitary groups.
The force’s Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd apologised to officers at a press conference, saying: “This is unacceptable."
He said the severe terrorist threat facing PSNI officers made news of the extensive data breach “the last thing that anybody in the organisation wants to be hearing".
Private home addresses were not included on the database, which was published online for several hours, the force said.
When asked how useful the information released in the data breach would be to terrorist organisations, ACC Chris Todd said: “It is limited to surname and initial only, so there's no other personal identifiable information contained within the information that was published.
“I understand that that will be of considerable concern to many of my colleagues and their families indeed, at the moment.
“We operate in an environment at the moment where there’s a severe threat to our colleagues from Northern Ireland-related terrorism and this is the last thing that anybody in the organisation wants to be hearing this evening.
“So, I owe it to all my colleagues to make sure that this is investigated thoroughly, and we’ve initiated that and will keep them informed, keep all the staff associations informed of that investigation, and we’ve been engaging with them throughout the afternoon.
Mr Todd said the force’s Chief Constable Simon Byrne was aware of the issue.
Liam Kelly, chair of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, which represents rank-and-file officers, described the breach of officers’ details by the PSNI as "monumental".
He called for an urgent inquiry and said officers were “appalled".
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said he was also “deeply concerned” by the blunder.
Writing on Twitter, Chris Heaton-Harris said: “I’m deeply concerned by the data breach involving the PSNI.
“My officials are in close contact with senior officers and are keeping me updated."
