The UK government cancelled a highly lucrative contract last week because the company that won the contract illegally gained access to confidential information that allegedly gave it competitive advantage over other businesses bidding for the same contract.

According to the BBC the cancellation of a deal which would have privatised the UK’s search and rescue helicopters raised “serious questions” because the private consortium Soteria that had been named as preferred bidder for the £6bn contract, which was due to run by 2012 had gained access to commercially sensitive information according to the Ministry of Defence.

There have been many occasions access to such sensitive information could lead to a competitive advantage, however, on this occasion it has resulted in a £6bn loss in revenue. This is an situation where going through a due and fair process is the best route to follow even if you loose the contract.

The military police are currently investigating how a former RAF officer now working with Soteria was able to gain access to commercially sensitive information and pass it on to his current employers.

It will be interesting to see how the whole story unfolds, but for now it is unlikely that the contract will be awarded to the private sector and will remain under the Royal Air Force operations.

This story reveals that information security is still not watertight at some of the UK’s most important and strategic organizations and a lot of work still needs to be done to make it highly secured when it comes to managing confidential information.