Hackers backtrack after UK nursery data breach backlash

Hackers posting stolen photos and data of around 8,000 children from the UK nursery chain Kido have retracted their actions due to boiling public outrage.

The images, initially unblurred, were posted to an illicit online forum, then subsequently blurred, and later fully removed, accompanied by an apology from the malicious group.

The group, which goes by the name “Radiant” pressed for a £100,000 ransom in bitcoin from Kido.

Much to their astonishment, some parents even received threatening phone calls directly, complete with extortion threats.

The nursery cybercriminals allege they gained access to the Kido records via an “initial access broker,” snapping up the hijacked login credentials.

The majority of the data was taken from Kido’s account with family childcare management software company Famly.

According to the BBC, Kido didn’t pay the £100,000 sum, which could well have been the reason for the withdrawal of the information, rather than an ethical move on behalf of the hackers.

Famly, however, rejected the offer from Kido to message parents, informing them that their servers were compromised.

It’s rare for hackers to retract

The Kido example demonstrates the rarity of hackers actually deleting stolen data as promised. In similar cases in the past, criminals claimed to have deleted files and records, but held onto the data, or passed it on elsewhere.

For example, in 2024, the ransomware group LockBit had Canadian retail chain London Drugs in its crosshairs. Promises by the gang to delete the data were later broken, even after it received ransom payments.

The Kido case, despite the group's apparent grace in deleting the data, is still unusually shocking, as it combines sensitive data about children with menacing threats to parents.

Lingering concerns about privacy look set to continue, as families and schools cannot be sure that the records are not present in another location on the dark web.

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