Dark web leak exposes 320,000 files stolen from 39 Bristol schools in cyberattack

More than 320,000 stolen files from 39 schools in Bristol have reportedly appeared on the dark web following a breach of Bristol City Council’s Trading with Schools platform in September.

The council confirmed that the affected schools had their personal data stolen. Head teachers have been informed and are sharing guidance with families. The authority said it is still examining the published material and cannot yet confirm exactly what information has been exposed.

Vik Verma, Director of Education at Bristol City Council, said officials were “working through a large amount of material as quickly as possible” to identify the affected information and update families.

39 schools affected by the data breach

The Trading with Schools platform supports 88 schools under the council. Of these, 49 use only its internet services, while the remaining 39 depend on it for daily operations such as scheduling, lesson planning, staff records and payroll management.

The platform may also contain sensitive student information, including educational psychology files. The council became aware of malicious software infiltrating the system on September 25, 4 days after the attack on September 21, and shut it down.

The disruption has also affected school operations. Several schools have been unable to use their phone services, while teachers have faced longer working hours as they work around the system outage.

The council confirmed that the impact was limited to Bristol schools.

Families raise concerns over exposed information

Parents have expressed concern about the potential misuse of their personal and family information. Helena, whose child attends Ashley Down School, said she was “concerned” and “disappointed” by the development.

She also questioned the delay in communication, saying, “If they had even an inkling that there was any data stolen, I’m just really surprised that no one would have told us about that.”

Cybersecurity expert Dr John Curry of Bath Spa University explained that criminal groups often steal information and pass it to brokers, who may divide it into smaller sets and sell it for financial fraud or blackmail. The stolen material may later be published online to demonstrate the attackers’ capabilities.

Police investigate as council issues safety guidance

The South West Regional Organised Crime Unit is investigating the incident. The council has advised families and school staff to remain alert to unexpected emails, calls and messages.

Recommended precautions include:

• Avoid clicking suspicious links or opening unexpected attachments.

• Do not share personal, financial or account details in response to unsolicited requests.

• Use strong, unique passwords and enable 2-factor authentication.

• Monitor bank statements and online accounts for unusual activity.