Brinztech Alert: The Alleged Data of Lycée Saint Charles and Lycée Notre-Dame des Dunes are Leaked

Dark Web News Analysis

The dark web news reports a disturbing data breach targeting the French education sector. A threat actor on the hacker forum BreachForums claims to have successfully breached two specific institutions: Lycée Saint Charles and Lycée Notre-Dame des Dunes.

The actor is offering the exfiltrated data for download and providing a contact via SESSION, implying a potential ransom or sales negotiation. Most alarmingly, the threat actor claims this is just the tip of the iceberg, boasting possession of a massive unreleased database containing 378 million records (approx. 7TB) from across the entire “French sector.”

Key Cybersecurity Insights

Breaches of educational institutions are “Tier 1” privacy threats because they involve the sensitive data of minors, which has a long shelf life for criminals:

• The “Clean Slate” Identity Theft: The primary value of student data is that it is often “clean.” Minors do not check their credit reports. Attackers can use the stolen identities of students to open bank accounts or take out loans that go undetected for years until the victim turns 18.
• Mega-Leak Implications: The claim of 378 million records from the “French sector” suggests the attacker may have compromised a central software provider or a cloud platform used by thousands of schools, rather than hacking each school individually. This points to a massive Supply Chain Vulnerability.
• Extortion & Harassment: With access to student contact details and potentially disciplinary or grade records, attackers can launch harassment campaigns or “Sextortion” attempts against vulnerable teenagers.
• Parental Phishing: Attackers can use the school’s data to send emails to parents demanding urgent payments for “school trips” or “cafeteria fees,” leveraging the trust parents place in school communications.

Mitigation Strategies

To protect students and the integrity of the education system, the following strategies are recommended:

• Parental Notification: The affected Lycées must immediately notify parents and students of the potential breach, adhering to strict GDPR requirements regarding the data of minors.
• Sector-Wide Audit: French educational authorities should investigate shared service providers (like digital workspace platforms or “ENTs”) to locate the source of the alleged 378 million records.
• Credential Reset: Force a password reset for all student, staff, and parent portal accounts associated with these schools.
• Dark Web Monitoring: Monitor the forum to see if the “7TB” dataset is released, which would signal a catastrophic failure of data privacy for the entire French public sector.

Secure Your Business with Brinztech — Global Cybersecurity Solutions

Brinztech protects organizations worldwide from evolving cyber threats. Whether you’re a startup or a global enterprise, our expert solutions keep your digital assets safe and your operations running smoothly.

Questions or Feedback?

For expert advice, use our ‘Ask an Analyst’ feature. Brinztech does not warrant the validity of external claims. For general inquiries or to report this post, please email us: contact@brinztech.com