The software in question was supposed to be developed by specialists with a secret clearance, but it was partially outsourced to developers in Russia's Siberia and Belarus, the report issued on Friday read. The ministry considered this a threat and launched the investigation in the summer of 2022, which ended in February 2023.
The investigation revealed that Rolls-Royce Submarines, which is responsible for operating the kingdom's nuclear submarine fleet, outsourced the development of the software to WM Reply, a consulting firm, the report read.
WM Reply, in turn, involved Belarusian developers, one of whom actually worked from his home in Siberia, the report added. The company actively tried to hide the information about the location of the developers and considered whether it could use fake names of deceased UK citizens, the report noted.
Citing Rolls-Royce Submarines, the newspaper reported that the company stopped working with WM Reply after the investigation and that there was no serious impact on national security because WM Reply employees did not have access to the information on protected servers.