Police National Legal Database confirms data theft after dark web leak
ExfilSquad claims 135,000 contact records weeks after hitting the Department for Education
The Police National Legal Database (PNLD) has confirmed a data breach involving the theft of sensitive information, including names, work email addresses, and police force areas. The incident was discovered on July 26 and is currently under investigation by PNLD, cybersecurity experts, and the National Crime Agency. The stolen data affected 135,000 law enforcement contact records, as well as 21,000 public email addresses who had previously used the PNLD's Ask the Police service.
No evidence suggests that passwords or other security credentials were compromised. The breach is believed to be linked to the same extortion group, ExfilSquad, which has claimed responsibility for a similar attack on the Department for Education (DfE). ExfilSquad has listed both PNLD and DfE as victims on its dark web leak site, alleging the theft of vast amounts of data, including millions of records, password hashes, and internal support tickets.
However, neither the DfE nor PNLD has independently verified these claims. PNLD's parent organization, the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit, is now investigating the breach and has confirmed that over 114,000 PNLD subscriber records were affected, including the names, work email addresses, and work organizations of police officers and criminal justice partners, as well as around 21,000 public email addresses.
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