Former GCHQ Intern Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Top Secret Data

A former GCHQ intern, Hassan Arshad, 25, has pleaded guilty to compromising national security by smuggling top secret information from a protected system.

While on a work placement at the UK’s cyber intelligence agency in August 2022, Arshad transferred sensitive data onto his smartphone and later uploaded it to his personal hard drive. He was arrested a month later. Reports suggest the stolen data included details about a GCHQ "tool" and employee names.

Some court proceedings are being held behind closed doors due to security concerns. Arshad had also previously admitted to possessing indecent images of a child. He will be sentenced on June 13.