UK Department for Education breach leaks 607,000 records

A significant data breach at the United Kingdom's Department for Education has exposed the personal information of hundreds of thousands of educational staff and government officials. The incident, which was revealed on July 29, 2026, resulted in the theft of approximately 607,000 records containing full names, job titles, email addresses, and phone numbers.

The cyberattack targeted the department's internal helpdesk, used by school leaders, university staff, and local authorities, as well as the Turing Scheme database, which tracks British students studying abroad. A threat actor known as ExfilSquad has claimed responsibility for the breach, with evidence of the stolen data appearing on the dark web. The group has also recently claimed an alleged breach at Microsoft.

In response, the Department for Education stated it took swift action to contain the incident and has pulled affected systems offline for maintenance. Officials reported the breach to the Information Commissioner's Office and are working with the National Crime Agency and the National Cyber Security Centre on the investigation. A department spokesperson emphasized that the compromised information was limited to...