Hackers Steal 740,000 Pieces of Data from UK Education Department and Police Database

ExfilSquad hacks UK databases, taking 740k data entries from the DfE and PNLD and demanding ransom for the stolen files.

By Content Team

Jul 30, 2026

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A previously unknown hacking gang called ExfilSquad has stolen over 740,000 pieces of data from the UK Department for Education and the Police National Legal Database. The haul exposed names, email addresses, phone numbers and job titles belonging to government officials, senior school leaders, university staff, police officers — and members of the public, including parents.

Just over 600,000 lines came from the DfE's help-desk portal, with a smaller batch from its Turing scheme for students studying abroad. The gang claims a further 135,000 from the PNLD, including passwords used to access the site.

ExfilSquad is demanding payment from 14 alleged victims, threatening to publish everything if ignored. The DfE says it has seen no evidence ransomware was deployed and that the data is limited to customer service contact details. The PNLD says it held no confidential victim, witness or offender information. Both have reported the breach to the ICO.

One senior source briefed on the PNLD leak called the risk low — with a caveat worth acting on: if you reused your PNLD password on anything more sensitive, change it now.

Source: The Guardian

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