LONDON, U.K.: Hackers have stolen personal data on more than 8,000 children attending nurseries in London operated by childcare provider Kido International, raising fresh alarm over child safety and data protection.

The gang, which calls itself Radiant, posted a sample of the stolen information on its dark web portal, including names, photos, addresses, and family contacts of 10 children from one of Kido's 18 nurseries in Greater London. It threatened to release more.

"Next steps for us will be to release 30 more ‘profiles' of each child and 100 employees," Radiant wrote on its leak site. The hackers claimed to have been inside Kido's networks for weeks and said they were based in Russia, though they provided no proof.

Kido did not respond to Reuters' request for comment. London's Metropolitan Police confirmed its Cyber Crime Unit was investigating, but said no arrests had been made. "Enquiries are ongoing and remain in the early stages," the statement said.

The group did not disclose what ransom it was seeking. Ransomware typically involves hackers encrypting a company's systems and demanding payment to unlock or withhold the stolen data.

"Cybercriminals 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," Jonathon Ellison of the UK's National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ, said in a statement.

The incident is the latest in a series of high-profile ransomware attacks that have disrupted British businesses this year.

On September 24, police arrested a man in connection with a ransomware attack on RTX-owned Collins Aerospace, which crippled check-in systems at London Heathrow and other European airports, grounding flights and forcing staff to issue handwritten boarding passes.

In April, a group dubbed Scattered Spider was reported to be behind a cyberattack on retailer Marks & Spencer that shut down online orders for weeks. The company later said the hack would cost around 300 million pounds (US$405 million) in lost profit for its 2025-2026 financial year.

Separately, the British government is considering financial support for Jaguar Land Rover suppliers after a cyberattack forced a prolonged shutdown that will now extend into October, a government source said this week.