Online hackers are confirmed to have leaked private documents from 14 schools. The records, all taken in 2021 and 2022, contain details of staff contracts, staff pay scales, passport scans of students, and information about children’s special education needs (SEN). A warning regarding the group’s activities has already been released by the FBI in America. Hackers used broad search terms to find and steal detailed papers from one of the schools. Teaching materials on muscle contractions and contractual offers made to staff exist in a folder marked “contract,” and passport scans for children and parents traveling on school business date back to 2011. Information on the headmaster’s salary and the recipients of student financial assistance is kept in a separate folder marked “confidential.” One of the schools, according to its spokesperson, takes the security of its systems and data very seriously.

The suspected hacking group has been linked to a high-profile string of attacks on schools in the US and the UK in recent months. If money is not paid, the group will demand payment before leaking the stolen documents. According to estimates, the school’s attack happened on September 28 last year, when it emailed parents to let them know that its phone and IT systems were down. The school’s computers had been accessed by “an unauthorized third party,” based on a second email the headteacher sent on October 7.