Schools Blackmailed with Explicit AI Deepfakes of Students - Security Magazine
Cybercriminals are leveraging school website images to create explicit AI deepfakes of students, blackmailing schools to prevent their release.
- Incident date
- May 2026
- Target
- Unnamed UK School
In 2023, a UK school was targeted in a blackmail attempt using AI-generated deepfakes. Cybercriminals created sexually explicit material from student images taken from the school's website and social media accounts.
What happened
The attackers transformed student photos into child sexual abuse material (CSAM) using AI deepfake tools. They then sent the material to the school, demanding money and threatening to release the images online if their demands were not met. The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) intervened, creating a digital fingerprint of the blackmail material and distributing it to technology platforms to prevent uploads. Approximately 150 of the images were categorized as CSAM under UK law.