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Internet spies triggered a security scare at Nato and in Britain after creating a fake Facebook account of its most senior commander to harvest personal details from his high-level friends.

Chinese hackers are thought to have been behind the plot, which saw a bogus page set up in the name of James Stavridis, Nato's Supreme Allied Commander.

Among those caught up in the scam included top brass in the British military and MoD officials, who unwittingly accepted false 'friend requests' from the account.

This, in turn, gave the hackers access to a mine of information, including e-mail addresses, names of family members, their movements and possibly even phone numbers, which could result in blackmail attempts.