Hackers dump 320,000 stolen files from 39 Bristol schools on the dark web as parents are warned to 'stay vigilant'

Bristol City Council has confirmed that criminals hacked its Trading with Schools platform on 21 September, with the breach coming to light four days later when the system was taken offline. The stolen cache includes sensitive records such as educational psychology files, payroll data, staff details and lesson plans from 39 schools. Parents at affected schools are being warned to stay vigilant as council officers work through the published material.

The platform serves 88 schools, but only the 39 that relied on it for day-to-day administration had data exposed and published.

Cyber security expert Dr John Curry of Bath Spa University said attacks of this kind are typically the work of crime syndicates that sell the data in chunks to brokers.

Since 25 September, phone systems at many of the affected schools have been out of action, forcing teachers to work longer hours while seeking alternative ways to deliver lessons.