Cyberhackers have targeted the Kido nursery chain, stealing personal information about thousands of children and posting some details on the darknet. The criminals are using pictures, names and addresses of around 8,000 children to demand ransom money from the London-based company.
The hackers, who call themselves Radiant, have published stolen data including pictures and profiles of 10 children on their darknet website, according to the BBC. Information about the children's parents, carers and safeguarding notes has also fallen into the criminals' hands.
Police investigation underway
The Metropolitan Police confirmed they received a referral on Thursday following reports of the ransomware attack. A spokesman said: "Enquiries are ongoing and remain in the early stages within the Met's Cyber Crime Unit. No arrests have been made."
Bryony Wilde, whose child attends a Kido nursery in London, expressed outrage at the targeting of children's data. She told the BBC: "They are kids - their personal details shouldn't be worth anything. You are probably prepared to go a little bit further to protect children's privacy and personal details." She described the children as "completely innocent victims".
Hackers defend their actions
The BBC contacted the hackers directly and challenged them over using children's data to extort money from a nursery. The criminals responded that they "weren't asking for an enormous amount" and they "deserve some compensation for our pentest" - a reference to penetration testing, which is normally conducted by ethical hackers to assess security systems.
Jonathon Ellison, the National Cyber Security Centre's national resilience director, condemned the attack as particularly serious. He said: "The reports of highly sensitive data being stolen in a cyber incident impacting nurseries are deeply distressing. Cyber criminals will target anyone if they think there is money to be made, and going after those who look after children is a particularly egregious act."
Company yet to respond
Kido operates nurseries across London and describes itself as having "an international network of schools in the USA, UK, India and China". The company has been contacted for comment but has not yet responded to the allegations.
Sources used: "BBC" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
