Over 100,000 UK Police and staff have personal data leaked in attack on national database

Date:
Tue, 04 Aug 2026 08:44:38 +0000

Description:
ExfilSquad claims responsibility for the attack, says it asked for a ransom payment.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter UKs Police National Legal Database (PNLD) breach leaks data of 100k+ criminal justice professionals Threat group ExfilSquad claimed responsibility, posting 1.9 GB of stolen records on the dark web and demanding ransom PNLD notified NCA and ICO, hired specialists, and confirmed passwords werent compromised but contact details exposed The UKs Police National Legal Database (PNLD) suffered a cyberattack recently, in which it allegedly lost sensitive data on more than 100,000 criminal justice professionals.

In a short press release, PNLD confirmed the breach, saying it happened over
a weekend. The threat actors, which were not named in the announcement, were said to have taken names, organizations, and work email addresses belonging
to police officers, staff, government partners, and customers. The announcement also said the stolen information was already published on the dark web, adding that there is no evidence to suggest that passwords or other security credentials have been compromised. How the attackers worked their
way in was not disclosed in the announcement. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here: ExfilSquad takes the blame Following the breach, PNLD hired cyber-security specialists, and notified the National Crime Agency, which started their investigation into the incident.

All affected organizations were contacted in the days following the incident and provided with further information and guidance, the announcement reads. The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has also been notified. You may like NAIC confirms data breach with ShinyHunters claiming 3.1TB of data
stolen in Oracle zero-day attack European cloud giant Nextcloud exposes staff and clients in major data breach UK Visa Portal website leaks thousands of user passport data and photos online

At the same time, threat actors calling themselves ExfilSquad claimed responsibility for the attack, BleepingComputer reported. The group alleges
it stole 135,000 contact records, sharing samples to support their claims. They also said they demanded a ransom in exchange for keeping the data safe.

In the dark web post, ExfilSquad said it obtained 1.9 GB of data, which includes information belonging to 114,000 PNLD subscribers and 21,000 Ask the Police users. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners
or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms &
Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Ask the Police is a public-facing website where users can find answers to hundreds of commonly asked policing or legal questions.

ExfilSquad is a relatively new threat actor that's not known for any major attacks so far. Prior to the PNLD incident, it claimed the attack against Analog Devices, a US semiconductor company. The best antivirus for all
budgets Our top picks, based on real-world testing and comparisons

Read our full guide to the best antivirus 1. Best overall: Bitdefender Total Security 2. Best for families: Norton 360 with LifeLock 3. Best for mobile: McAfee Mobile Security Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/over-100-000-uk-police-and-staff-have-p ersonal-data-leaked-in-attack-on-national-database


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)