2026 Police National Legal Database — confirmed ExfilSquad leak; ~135K contacts (114K staff + 21K Ask the Police)
Data compromised
Names, work emails, police force/organisation for ~114,000 PNLD subscribers (officers and criminal-justice professionals) plus ~21,000 Ask the Police public users (ExfilSquad/Times breakdown). MoD, Home Office, NCA and CPS personnel who used the shared legal database reported in scope. No passwords/credentials compromised per PNLD; no victim/witness/offender investigation data held in PNLD.
Technical writeup
Verified — PNLD published an incident notice confirming the breach and publication of contact details; BleepingComputer (3 Aug 2026), The Register (3 Aug 2026), and The Times/Telegraph. Intrusion detected 26 July 2026; claimed by ExfilSquad (~1.9 GB / ~135,000 records). North East Regional Organised Crime Unit told The Register around 114,000 PNLD subscriber records (names, work emails, work organisations of officers and criminal-justice partners) plus around 21,000 Ask the Police public email addresses were involved; no passwords/credentials compromised; no ransom demand received. PNLD is the legal-assistance resource for 43 Home Office forces in England and Wales plus British Transport Police; hosted historically with West Yorkshire Police. NCA assisting; ICO notified; all affected organisations contacted. PNLD says no confidential victim/witness/offender data. Police Federation raised officer-safety concerns. recordsAffected 135000 matches the combined official/press breakdown.
Root cause
ExfilSquad data-theft extortion against Police National Legal Database (hosted by West Yorkshire Police); dark-web leak of contact records (Times/Telegraph/The Record; NCA acknowledgment)
References
- https://www.thetimes.com/uk/technology-uk/article/police-officer-details-leaked-exfilsquad-hack-rxx5c575b
- https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/08/02/hackers-exfilsquad-post-details-100k-police-staff-dark-web/
- https://therecord.media/united-kingdom-ransomware-education
- https://futurescot.com/department-for-education-and-police-national-legal-database-targeted-by-hackers/
- https://www.ransomware.live/id/UG9saWNlIE5hdGlvbmFsIExlZ2FsIERhdGFiYXNlQEV4ZmlsU3F1YWQ
- https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/exfilsquad-hackers-leak-info-of-over-100-000-uk-police-officers-staff/
- https://www.pnld.co.uk/article/?id=7ebf3c0e-598e-f111-8077-7ced8d3aa78f
- https://thehackernews.com/2026/08/pnld-breach-exposes-uk-police-and.html
- https://databreaches.net/2026/08/03/uk-details-of-100000-police-staff-leaked-on-the-dark-web-after-hack/
- https://www.theregister.com/cyber-crime/2026/08/03/police-national-legal-database-confirms-data-theft-after-dark-web-leak/5282332