Hackers have obtained about 607,000 records in a cyber-attack on the Department for Education (DfE) in England.
The data taken includes telephone numbers and email addresses relating to individuals and organisations but does not include bank details or other sensitive information.
The DfE confirmed the incident and said it is working closely with the National Cyber Security Centre and the National Crime Agency (NCA).
The data protection risk to individuals is not considered high and it is understood the attack was contained quickly.
The Turing Scheme portal – a programme providing funding for international education – and the DfE online help desk have both been affected, but are expected to be operating normally later this week.
The DfE has referred itself to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
“We have robust processes in place to protect information and took swift action to contain this incident”, a DfE spokesperson said.
“The information involved is limited to customer service contact details relating to individuals and organisations. No other data has been accessed”.
It stressed the 607,000 figure relates to the total number of records affected, not individuals.
An NCA spokesperson said: “We are aware of an incident affecting the Department for Education and are working with partners to understand the circumstances and impact.”
Cyber incidents within the education sector are becoming more frequent.
Around a quarter of further education institutions (24%) reported experiencing a breach or attack at least weekly according to the government’s most recent Cyber Security Breaches Survey., external
And more than half of schools have reported an attack or breach in the last year.
