A former employee of a “sensitive government organization” has appeared in court for allegedly endangering national security by taking home top-secret data.
Hasaan Arshad has been charged with breaching the Computer Misuse Act following an investigation led by the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command.
He spoke at Westminster Magistrates’ Court only to confirm his name, date of birth and address in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.
The court heard the 23-year-old had been employed by a “sensitive government organization” before his arrest on September 22 last year.
Before leaving the job on Aug. 24, he took his work phone to a top-secret area and connected the device to a top-secret workstation, prosecutors said.
He is said to have transferred sensitive data from a secure computer to the phone before taking it home.
Arshad allegedly moved data from his work phone to a hard drive connected to his personal home computer.
According to Justice Department security guidelines, “Top Secret” is a classification of the government’s most sensitive information, the disclosure of which could result in widespread loss of life or threaten the security or economic well-being of the state or friendly nations.
Arshad was not required to enter a plea under section 3ZA of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 to a charge relating to “unauthorized conduct causing serious damage or risk of causing serious damage”.
Arshad was granted conditional bail until his next appearance at the Old Bailey on May 5.
In the meantime, he must live and sleep at his home address, must not leave or attempt to leave the UK mainland, and must notify police of any internet-connected devices in his possession.
He was also banned from using anonymous internet browsing tools including VPNs and Onion routers, or accessing dark web systems like Tor.