British Military Deploys AI to Thwart Sensitive Data Leaks

As of August 2025, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has turned to artificial intelligence (AI) technology to safeguard sensitive military and intelligence information. This move follows a significant data breach that occurred in 2022, when a soldier accidentally shared a spreadsheet containing details about SAS troops and MI6 spies with trusted Afghan contacts.

The MoD has partnered with Australian software company Castlepoint Systems to deploy advanced AI tools that can comb through government documents and spreadsheets, identifying and securing any classified or sensitive content. These AI systems are trained on real-world intelligence rules, allowing them to accurately detect and classify a wide range of sensitive information, from details about explosives to reports of harassment or abuse.

Once the AI identifies sensitive material, it will automatically apply security tags to prevent the information from being emailed, printed, or otherwise shared. This measure is expected to minimize the risk of human error, which has been responsible for 49 separate MoD data breaches over the past four years, with only four of these incidents being publicly known.

Rachael Greaves, the CEO of Castlepoint Systems, has emphasized that the new AI-powered security measures will be a significant improvement over the "rudimentary" tools currently used by most organizations, which can only detect simple patterns like personal information or credit card numbers. The advanced AI system deployed by the MoD will be able to handle the complexity of military and intelligence classifications, ensuring that sensitive data is properly protected.