Two Teens Arrested Over Nursery Cyberattack That Targeted Thousands of Children
Two 17-year-old boys have been arrested in connection with the cyberattack on Kido, a chain of nurseries in London, where hackers accessed and leaked sensitive information about thousands of children and their families.
The arrests were made during a police operation on Tuesday in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire. Both teens are being held on suspicion of computer misuse and blackmail.
The hack — first reported to police on 25th September — involved a ransomware attack in which personal details of around 8,000 children were stolen, including names, addresses, photos, and the contact details of parents and carers.
The group behind the attack, calling themselves Radiant, initially attempted to pressure Kido into paying a ransom of around £600,000 in Bitcoin. They contacted parents directly and began uploading stolen child profiles to their darknet site in a move cybersecurity experts described as a disturbing escalation. At one point, 20 children’s profiles were posted.
In an unexpected twist, the hackers later blurred the images of the children, claiming concern for their own reputation within hacking circles. A few days later, on 2nd October, they took down all the content and claimed they had deleted all of the stolen files. “No more remains and this can comfort parents,” they wrote on their site.
Will Lyne, head of economic and cybercrime at the Met, said: “We understand reports of this nature can cause considerable concern, especially to those parents and carers who may be worried about the impact of such an incident on them and their families… These arrests are a significant step forward in our investigation.”
The Kido chain welcomed the arrests and said it continues to support the police and affected families. “We welcome this swift action from the Met Police and recognise this is an important milestone in the process of bringing those responsible to justice,” a spokesperson said.
The Met confirmed that investigations into the cyberattack are ongoing, and further updates will follow as more evidence is gathered.
