The names and contact details of around 100,000 UK police officers have appeared on the dark web after cybercriminals breached a key law enforcement database, exposing officers to potential security risks, according to The Times.
The leak, reported on Sunday, follows a wider cyber campaign that also compromised data held by the Ministry of Defence, Home Office, National Crime Agency (NCA) and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the newspaper said.
The latest breach also comes days after hackers targeted the Department for Education (DfE), exposing more than 500,000 records.
Police database compromised
Hackers obtained officers' names, contact details and force affiliations after breaching the Police National Legal Database (PNLD), an online legal resource used by police forces across England and Wales.
Authorities believe the cybercriminal group ExfilSquad was behind the attack, part of a series of recent breaches targeting Western institutions.
"I have worked in serious organised crime and put high-level criminals behind bars. For private information to be leaked about me is very disconcerting and puts officers at serious risk," one affected staff member told The Times.
"In the past, I have been forced to move into safe houses and sell cars due to my job. Now I will have to keep my wits about me online and look out for anyone trying to get more serious information."
The DfE breach resulted in the publication of 607,000 records on the dark web and is believed to have been financially motivated rather than ideological.
In an online message, ExfilSquad warned victims that once their data was published, it would remain publicly available indefinitely, urging organisations to pay to avoid further consequences.
The PNLD is widely used by police officers for legal guidance during routine policing. England and Wales employ about 145,550 full-time police officers, many of whom are believed to have used the system at some point during their careers.
