Two 17-year-old boys have been arrested in connection with a cyber-attack on Kido, a nursery chain in London. The Metropolitan Police apprehended the individuals at residential locations in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, citing suspicions of computer misuse and blackmail.
The cyber attack reportedly involved the theft of personal information, including photographs, names, and addresses, of approximately 8,000 children associated with Kido. The police began their investigation following a referral from the Action Fraud cyber crime reporting service on September 25, which detailed a ransomware attack.
The arrested individuals are currently in police custody for interrogation. Will Lyne, head of the Met’s Economic and Cybercrime unit, acknowledged the significant concern such incidents may cause for parents and guardians and emphasized that the arrests are a substantial development in the ongoing investigation.
The breach first came to light on September 22, when hackers, identifying themselves as Radiant, attempted to gain media attention regarding their data theft while demanding a ransom of around £600,000 in Bitcoin. The BBC chose not to report on the incident until the hackers began posting profiles and images of children on a darknet site on September 25. Cybersecurity experts described this act as a troubling escalation in cyber crime.
The compromised data included not just children’s names and addresses but also the contact details of their parents. The hackers reportedly contacted parents directly to increase pressure on Kido to comply with their ransom demands. Despite initially displaying the data, the hackers chose to blur the images to maintain their standing within the hacking community. On October 2, they claimed to have deleted all the stolen data and reassured parents that no files remained.
Kido representatives have confirmed they responded to the incident promptly and engaged external specialists for thorough investigation, keeping families and relevant authorities informed throughout the process. Furthermore, the police initially reported the arrest of a 22-year-old, later correcting the age to 17.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpvlgzk0xvpo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss