British School Childrens' Confidential Data Dumped

Uploaded on 2023-01-23 in NEWS-News Analysis, FREE TO VIEW

Following a cyber attack on 14 British schools that happened in 2022, confidential data including information about pupils and staff has been leaked online by the hackers. The information exposed includes childrens' Special Educational Needs (SEN) information, passport scans, staff pay scales, and staff contract details.

The information was leaked after the schools hit by the attacks refused to pay ransom demands. Now, some of the schools affected have provided an update on the incident to parents, pupils and staff.

Security researchers believe the aptly-named hacking gang Vice Society was behind the attacks due to their activity conducting ransomware and extortion campaigns against other education institutions in the UK and US. The education sector has been a prime target for ransomware groups over the past few years.

When data is stolen, Vice Society makes demands for money before leaking the documents if payment is not made. The schools affected in the British leak are from across the country, including London, Leicester , Barnstaple and Evesham.

Having failed to extract a ransom, Vice Society leaked the information on the Dark Web, a section of the Internet which is not indexed on regular search engines and requires specialist browsing software to access it.

In October 2022, the Los Angeles Unified School District was the victim of another Vice Society attack that resulted in the ransomware group publishing the data it stole. The school district stated that it had no intentions of paying the extorters, which likely resulted in the leak.

AJ Thompson, CCO at Northdoor commented “The nature of the data held by education, healthcare and other public sector organisations makes them particularly tempting targets for cybercriminals... We would urge education facilities and others in the public sector to place more priority on cybersecurity. The threat from these gangs is increasing in regularity and sophistication."

Thompson continued "I fear that these fourteen schools might just be the tip of the iceberg and without more in the sector ensuring cybersecurity is a higher priority we will see more of these incidents in the coming months.”

MyLondon: BBC: CSOOnline: Secure Team: DigitFYI: Oodaloop: Infosecurity Magazine:

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