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Hackers called Radiant stole and posted data of over 8000 children from Kido Schools, then deleted it after backlash. NCSC calls the incident deeply distressing
Most of the downloaded material included the pictures of children was taken from Kido’s account with Famly – a popular early years education platform (Getty Images)
Hackers who stole the data of over 8,000 children and published some of the information on the dark web have removed the posts online, authorities said.
According to a report by BBC, the criminals, who call themselves as “Radiant,” began posting profiles of the children to their website last Thursday, adding another 10 children days later and vowing to continue until Kido Schools paid a ransom in Bitcoin. The accused then made threatening calls to the parents directly to get the ransom.
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Most of the downloaded material included the pictures of children was taken from Kido’s account with Famly – a popular early years education platform. However, Famly has rejected Kido’s message to parents that the breach happened due to it being compromised.
Meanwhile, Kido has not responded to a request for comment about the way the hackers stole the data. One of the spokesperson said: “We recently identified and responded to a cyber incident. We are working with external specialists to investigate and determine what happened in more detail. We swiftly informed both our families and the relevant authorities and continue to liaise closely with them.”
“All child data is now being deleted. No more remains and this can comfort parents,” one of the cyber-criminals involved told the BBC. “We are sorry for hurting kids.”
“This is more about pragmatism than morality,” said cyber-security expert Jen Ellis. “These criminals are clearly shocked and worried by the attention their hack has caused and they are trying to protect themselves or their brand.”
According to BBC, the nursery hackers claimed they broke into the nursery’s systems by buying access to one of Kido’s staff computers which was compromised by a separate hacker.
Following this, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the UK’s technical authority for cyber security, have called the reported incident as “deeply distressing”.
United Kingdom (UK)
October 03, 2025, 02:16 IST
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