01-05-2025
Harrods becomes latest UK retailer hit by cyber attack
London department store Harrods says hackers have attempted to break into its systems, in the third such high-profile cyber attack on a UK-based retailer in a fortnight.
It followed earlier incidents at Marks & Spencer and the Co-op Group.
British companies, public bodies and institutions have been hit by a wave of cyber attacks in recent years, costing them tens of millions of pounds and often causing months of disruption.
"We recently experienced attempts to gain unauthorised access to some of our systems," a statement from Harrods, owned by the Qatar Investment Authority, said.
"Our seasoned IT security team immediately took proactive steps to keep systems safe and as a result we have restricted internet access at our sites today."
UK-based store Marks & Spencer has also been targeted by cybercriminals.
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Reuters: Suzanne Plunkett
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The store said all of its sites, including its flagship Knightsbridge store in London, H beauty stores and airport stores, remained open and customers could continue to shop online.
The Harrods and Co-op incidents appear to have had less of an impact than the attack on M&S — one of Britain's best-known retailers — which has paused taking clothing and home orders through its website and app for the past seven days.
It remains unclear if the attacks are linked.
The attack on M&S came during a bout of warm weather in Britain, when retailers would normally report an increase in demand for summer clothing, fresh food and drinks.
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Availability of some food products has been affected in some stores.
"Our experienced team — supported by leading cyber experts — is working extremely hard to restart online and app shopping," Marks & Spencer said in a statement.
For its part, the Co-op said its security response led to a "small impact to some of our back office and call centre services".
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is working with both M&S and the Co-op, while the Metropolitan Police's Cyber Crime Unit and the National Crime Agency (NCA) is investigating the M&S attack.
Technology specialist site BleepingComputer, citing multiple sources, said a ransomware attack that encrypted M&S's servers was believed to have been conducted by a hacking collective known as Scattered Spider.
The Scattered Spider collective "is a loosely affiliated criminal hacking group whose members have broken into and stolen data from some of the world's largest technology companies," according to American journalist Brian Kreb.
The group was also involved in "countless SMS-based phishing attacks against employees at major corporations", Mr Kreb reported on his
ABC/wires
