The Department for Education has confirmed that hackers stole approximately 607,000 records, later leaked on the dark web, containing the names, job titles, email addresses and phone numbers of school leaders, university staff and government officials. The breach exposed the department to criticism over cybersecurity standards, with experts warning that government bodies remain vulnerable "soft targets" for such attacks and that stolen data could be used to craft convincing phishing scams.

The hackers, reportedly a group called ExfilSquad, targeted the DfE's help desk system, which handles requests from local authorities and schools, as well as the Turing Scheme database used to track UK students studying abroad. The department says it is fixing the affected portals and has switched to alternative phone communications in the meantime, while working with the Information Commissioner's Office, the National Crime Agency and the National Cyber Security Centre. Officials maintain the risk to those affected is low, as the exposed data sets reportedly cannot be cross-referenced, though a cybersecurity adviser warned this is unlikely to be an isolated incident.