Iran Press/ Europe: Air Marshal Edward Stringer, who left the armed forces in August, said the attack which was discovered in March 2021 meant the Defence Academy was forced to rebuild its network.
He said he did not know if criminals or a hostile state were responsible but the damage has yet to be fully rectified months on.
Stringer told the Sky News: "It could be any of those or it could just be someone trying to find a vulnerability for a ransomware attack that was just, you know, a genuine criminal organization."
He added: "There were costs to... operational output. There were opportunity costs in what our staff could have been doing when they were having to repair this damage.
"And what could we be spending the money on that we've had to bring forward to rebuild the network? There are nobodies in the streets but there's still been some damage done."
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