Police arrest two suspects in connection with nursery cyber attack

Detectives with London’s Metropolitan Police (Met) investigating reports of a cyber attack on a chain of London-based nurseries have made two arrests.

Hackers stole the names and photos of 8,000 children from the Kido nursery chain, posted 10 profiles online and threatened to publish more unless a ransom was paid in Bitcoin. After a backlash, the hackers blurred the images of the children then eventually took them down, claiming to have deleted to rest of the stolen data.

“On Tuesday, 7 October, specialist officers from the Met conducted a proactive operation at a number of residential properties in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, where two people were arrested on suspicion of computer misuse as well as blackmail,” a statement from the Met read. “Two boys, both aged 17, were arrested at the scene and taken to custody. They remain there for questioning.”

The Met’s investigation followed a referral from Action Fraud on September 25, which detailed a ransomware attack on a set of pre-schools in Greater London. Enquiries remain ongoing.