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Hackers have leaked contact details for more than 100,000 UK police officers and criminal justice staff after breaching the Police National Legal Database, the service confirmed on August 3. The database, known as PNLD, has served police forces across England and Wales for more than three decades.
The intrusion was detected on Sunday, July 26, and was later claimed by a data extortion group calling itself ExfilSquad. PNLD said the breach exposed the full names, employers and email addresses of police officers, staff, criminal justice professionals and government partners. The names and email addresses of members of the public who submitted questions through its "Ask the Police" website were also taken.
ExfilSquad says it stole about 1.9 GB of data covering roughly 135,000 records, split between 114,000 PNLD subscribers and 21,000 Ask the Police users. The group published sample data to back its claim and demanded a ransom to stop it releasing the rest. PNLD has confirmed the breach but has not said how the attackers got in.
In its statement, PNLD said the National Crime Agency is assisting the investigation and that the Information Commissioner's Office has been notified. It found no evidence that passwords or other security credentials were compromised, and said it holds no data on victims, witnesses or offenders. The service is used by the 43 Home Office forces in England and Wales, along with the British Transport Police.
ExfilSquad is the same group that recently claimed a breach at the US semiconductor maker Analog Devices. Rosters of names, employers and work emails for serving officers carry a physical dimension the raw record count can hide, since the same details support social engineering, impersonation and the targeting of people whose work already draws hostility.
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