Ex-Government employee from Rochdale accused of 'taking top secret data home'

A former employee of a 'sensitive Government organisation' has appeared in court after allegedly risking damaging national security by taking top secret data home.

Hasaan Arshad, from Rochdale, is charged with an offence under the Computer Misuse Act after an investigation led by the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command. The 23-year-old appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday (April 18).

Dressed in dark jeans and a black parka coat, he spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address. The court heard that Arshad had been employed by a 'sensitive Government organisation' before his arrest and the search of his home on September 22 last year.

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Prosecutors allege that before leaving his job on August 24, Arshad took his work mobile phone into a top secret area and connected the device to a top secret work station. He is said to have transferred sensitive data from a secure top secret computer to the phone before taking it home.

Arshad allegedly transferred the data from the work mobile phone to a hard drive connected to his personal home computer. 'Top secret' is the classification for the Government’s most sensitive information, where compromise might cause widespread loss of life or threaten the security or economic wellbeing of the country or friendly nations, according to Ministry of Justice security guidance.

Arshad, Chevron Close, Rochdale, was not asked to enter a plea to a single charge under Section 3ZA of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 relating to 'unauthorised acts causing, or creating risk of, serious damage'.

The charge said: “Between August 23 2022 and September 23 2022 (he) did an unauthorised act in relation