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Authorities have identified the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) officer only as Manfred D in what they fear could be the biggest espionage scandal in modern history.

Prosecutors accuse Mr Hanning of amassing thousands of classified documents over 16 years through Manfred D, who remained in post at the BND until earlier this year, and of passing secrets to a foreign power.

MI6 and GCHQ, along with multiple American agencies, are understood to be scrambling to assess how exposed they have been by the alleged leak.

The services are said to be carrying out a systematic audit of every piece of sensitive material passed to European allies during the period in question, The Telegraph reports.

German security sources have confirmed some of the high-level intelligence handled by Mr Hanning and Manfred D originated from foreign partner agencies, raising the alarming possibility that British and American secrets were among the compromised material.

Agents working in the field may have been compromised, with their identities potentially traceable through shared intelligence that leaked outside secure channels.

The primary objective of the British review is understood to be protecting any individuals whom the alleged leak may have endangered.

All of Germany’s intelligence-sharing partners are expected to conduct similar exercises.

Matthew Dunn, a former MI6 intelligence officer, said there would be “no doubt” that a “huge internal security review” was underway at the agency.

“In terms of feeding knowledge of our enemies back to the enemy itself, yes, that is an area of vulnerability. The biggest fear always, always, always in intelligence is the dreaded double agent scenario.”

He said this was especially the case when it came to a “trusted liaison partner” like the BND.

However, Mr Dunn stressed that he would be “very surprised” if the affair damaged the broader MI6-BND relationship, per The Telegraph.

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