The UK's Legal Aid Agency has revealed that hackers who broke into its systems in April 2025 stole records dating back to 1978, far earlier than the agency initially estimated. The government now says roughly 250,000 of the stolen records predate 2007, with most from the 1990s and 2000s and only a small number older than 1990. The original disclosure had suggested the stolen data covered legal aid applications, claims, and payments from 2007 onward.
The Ministry of Justice also discovered that the attackers accessed information from HM Prison and Probation Service, including names, dates of birth, nationalities, and case reference numbers for offenders supervised between 2010 and 2017. Officials stressed that more than 99 percent of the affected probation data relates to people under supervision in 2016 and 2017, and that no information about crime victims was taken.
The compromised records may include names, addresses, National Insurance numbers, financial details, and information about legal proceedings, including criminal charges and convictions. The government said the attackers stole data from several complex systems, much of it unstructured or incomplete, which delayed a full assessment. It also said it has no indication the stolen information has been published or shared, and that it has since tightened access controls and begun retiring higher-risk legacy technology.