www.upguard.com Pay Tel Communications Exposes Sensitive Inmate Data in Major Security Breach
Article Content
- •3.4 million documents, including 300,000 driver’s licenses, were exposed due to misconfigured storage.
- •The breach follows a ransomware attack in June 2025, indicating ongoing security vulnerabilities at Pay Tel.
- •Sensitive inmate communications and personal documents were accessible online, impacting inmates and their families.
On May 4, 2026, UpGuard researchers found a publicly exposed Azure storage bucket belonging to Pay Tel Communications, revealing 3.4 million documents, including 300,000 driver’s licenses and sensitive inmate communications. This incident follows a ransomware attack by the DragonForce gang on June 15, 2025, which compromised 399 GB of data from 121 detention centers. The data breach affects inmates and their families, as well as correctional officers, with personal and legal documents exposed. Pay Tel has not publicly acknowledged the latest security incident or confirmed whether affected individuals will be notified. The exposure highlights ongoing issues with cybersecurity practices within the corrections industry.
Ask AI about this cluster
Answers cite the sources they use
Timeline
More articles in this cluster (4)
Following this threat?
Track DragonForce and Pay Tel in your own feed — you're alerted when they show up in new reporting, leak sites or exploitation.
Free account · no card needed
Continue Reading
Emerging EDR Killer Tool Targeting Ransomware Groups A new malicious tool, referred to as the EDR killer, is being actively used by at least eight ransomware groups, including Blacksuit and Medusa, to disable endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions. This tool is believed to be an evolution of the EDRKillShifter developed by RansomHub, which allows ransomware… 
[DRAGONFORCE] Ransomware Attacks Target Community Property Management and Owen Leigh Optometry On September 16, 2026, the DRAGONFORCE ransomware group listed two organizations on a leak site: Community Property Management in the U.S. and Owen Leigh Optometry in the U.K. Community Property Management is reported to have over 200 GB of data claimed as stolen, while Owen Leigh Optometry's alleged data exfiltration…