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Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cybercrime spree that hobbled British retailers now aimed at U.S., Google says
Hackers behind a series of destructive, financially motivated cyberattacks against some of the U.K.'s largest retailers are now going after big American brands, Google said Wednesday. 'Major American retailers have already been targeted,' John Hultquist, the chief analyst for Google's Threat Intelligence Group, told NBC News. At least three top British retailers have experienced cyberattacks in recent weeks. Marks & Spencer was forced to pause online orders for weeks. Hackers who contacted the BBC provided evidence of 'huge amounts of customer and employee data' stolen from the Co-op Group. The third, Harrods, restricted some internet access at store locations, though a spokesperson told NBC News that it has not seen evidence that customer data was stolen. Hultquist declined to name which American retailers the hackers may be going after. As one of the world's largest tech companies, Google sells services like cloud storage, networking and security protections to some of the biggest retailers in the world, providing it significant insight into how hackers operate. It's not yet clear if there is a technical reason for the hackers to target retail companies, such as a vulnerability in a shared industry software program. For-profit hackers have in recent years proven adept at accessing the computer systems of major companies and profiting by holding data and entire networks for ransom. The U.K. hacking campaign strongly echoes the one that shut down parts of some Las Vegas casinos in 2023. That led to MGM Resorts, the owner of the Bellagio and Mandalay Bay, shutting down some casino floors, leaving guests unable to access their rooms with keycards. The same hackers also broke into Caesars Entertainment, but Caesars, unlike MGM, promptly paid the hackers, and it did not experience widespread service outages. That hacking campaign was notable as the first widely known collaboration between a group of young, largely English-speaking hackers who successfully gained access to high-level corporate accounts, and a Russian-speaking cybercrime group. That same loosely affiliated group provided initial access to the British retailers and is now going after U.S. ones, Hultquist said. It appears to have largely avoided high-profile targets in the interim. The casinos, as well as the Co-op Group and Marks and Spencer, were infected with ransomware, a type of malicious software that hackers install on critical systems to lock them up and steal sensitive information. They then demand a payment to either not exploit the information or for help making those computer systems usable again. This article was originally published on
NBC News
14-05-2025
- Business
- NBC News
Cybercrime spree that hobbled British retailers now aimed at U.S., Google says
Hackers behind a series of destructive, financially motivated cyberattacks against some of the U.K.'s largest retailers are now going after big American brands, Google said Wednesday. 'Major American retailers have already been targeted,' John Hultquist, the chief analyst for Google's Threat Intelligence Group, told NBC News. At least three top British retailers have experienced cyberattacks in recent weeks. Marks & Spencer was forced to pause online orders for weeks. Hackers who contacted the BBC provided evidence of 'huge amounts of customer and employee data' stolen from the Co-op Group. The third, Harrods, restricted some internet access at store locations, though a spokesperson told NBC News that it has not seen evidence that customer data was stolen. Hultquist declined to name which American retailers the hackers may be going after. As one of the world's largest tech companies, Google sells services like cloud storage, networking and security protections to some of the biggest retailers in the world, providing it significant insight into how hackers operate. It's not yet clear if there is a technical reason for the hackers to target retail companies, such as a vulnerability in a shared industry software program. For-profit hackers have in recent years proven adept at accessing the computer systems of major companies and profiting by holding data and entire networks for ransom. The U.K. hacking campaign strongly echoes the one that shut down parts of some Las Vegas casinos in 2023. That led to MGM Resorts, the owner of the Bellagio and Mandalay Bay, shutting down some casino floors, leaving guests unable to access their rooms with keycards. The same hackers also broke into Caesars Entertainment, but Caesars, unlike MGM, promptly paid the hackers, and it did not experience widespread service outages. That hacking campaign was notable as the first widely known collaboration between a group of young, largely English-speaking hackers who successfully gained access to high-level corporate accounts, and a Russian-speaking cybercrime group. That same loosely affiliated group provided initial access to the British retailers and is now going after U.S. ones, Hultquist said. It appears to have largely avoided high-profile targets in the interim. The casinos, as well as the Co-op Group and Marks and Spencer, were infected with ransomware, a type of malicious software that hackers install on critical systems to lock them up and steal sensitive information. They then demand a payment to either not exploit the information or for help making those computer systems usable again.
Time of India
07-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Britain to face more cyberattacks as AI adoption grows, minister says
Live Events The growth of AI will increase the number and sophistication of cyberattacks on Britain, senior minister Pat McFadden said on companies, public bodies and institutions have been hit by a wave of cyberattacks in the past few years, costing them tens of millions of pounds and often months of the last three weeks British retailers Marks & Spencer , the Co-op Group and Harrods have all been hit by attacks, with M&S still unable to take online clothing companies have not given any details on the nature of the attacks."Today we are declassifying an intelligence assessment that shows AI is going to increase not only the frequency but the intensity of cyberattacks in the coming years," said McFadden, who as cabinet office minister is responsible for UK cyber security."Our security systems will only remain secure if they keep pace with what our adversaries are doing," he at the National Cyber Security Centre's CyberUK 2025 conference, he said that last year the NCSC received almost 2,000 reports of cyberattacks, with almost 90 deemed "significant" and 12 at "the very top end of severity". This was three times the number of severe attacks compared to the year said the recent cyberattacks on British retailers should serve as a wake-up call for everyone, including government and the public sector, businesses and organisations."Cyber security isn't a luxury, it's an absolute necessity."He said the government will later this year publish a new cyber security strategy, while new legislation, the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, will grant government new powers to direct regulated organisations to reinforce their cyber defences.M&S and the Co-op are widely reported to have been the victims of ransomware attacks where criminals infiltrate companies' computer systems, encrypt them and demand payment before allowing them to resume CEO Richard Horne told the conference he wanted to see a future where paying ransoms is no longer considered an option, where the business model for the attackers no longer works.
Daily Record
07-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Record
Millions of shoppers warned as UK supermarket stops taking card payments
Thesupermarket is currently unable to accept card payments in some stores, with millions of shoppers being urged to bring cash instead. A major supermarket has ceased accepting card payments in some of its stores, issuing a warning to millions of shoppers. Co-op customers are being advised to bring cash as certain stores are not currently accepting card payments due to a cyber attack breach. The Co-op, which competes with Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and others, stated that it is working to restore digital payments as quickly as possible. Some locations are presently only accepting cash as they manage the fallout from the cyber attack. One user commented: "Cash only at the Co-Op today. That's three in Manchester I've seen with similar signs. One directly opposite the HQ." Stephen Bonner, deputy commissioner of the Information Commissioner's Office, told the Today Programme on Tuesday that the chaos was "a wake-up call to every organisation". The Co-op had to shut down parts of its IT system on Wednesday after detecting an attempted hack, just days after Marks and Spencer experienced a serious cyber incident, reports Birmingham Live. Shirine Khoury-Haq, the group's chief executive, advised members to "take the usual steps to keep their passwords safe". She wrote: "While we have been able to protect our Co-op from significant trading disruption, which is often the intent of these sorts of attacks, I am very sorry that this member information was accessed". "While there is no impact to your account, and you can continue to trade with us as normal, I appreciate that members will be concerned." A spokesperson for the Co-op has issued a statement regarding the cyber-attacks the company is facing: It read: "We are continuing to experience sustained malicious attempts by hackers to access our systems. This is a highly complex situation, which we continue to investigate in conjunction with the NCSC and the NCA. "We have implemented measures to ensure that we prevent unauthorised access to our systems whilst minimising disruption for our members, customers, colleagues and partners. "We now know that the hackers were able to access and extract data from one of our systems. The accessed data included information relating to a significant number of our current and past members. "This data includes Co-op Group members' personal data such as names and contact details, and did not include members' passwords, bank or credit card details, transactions or information relating to any members' or customers' products or services with the Co-op Group. "We appreciate that our members have placed their trust in our Co-op when providing information to us. "Protecting the security of our members' and customers' data is a priority, and we are very sorry that this situation has arisen." There are 500 Co-op food shops in Scotland, with more than 3,000 in the rest of the UK.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Co-op attack 'not impacting Channel Islands data'
A cyber attack on the Co-op Group in the UK "has not impacted" members' data security in Guernsey or Jersey, the Channel Islands' group says. It comes after hackers infiltrated the UK group's IT networks and claimed to have stolen the customer and employee data of more than 20 million people. The Channel Islands Co-operative Society (CI Coop) said: "We can confirm that this incident has not impacted data security or systems functionality at CI Coop, and that the data of our members has not been compromised." It explained that the UK-based Co-op Group did not store the personal details of members of the Channel Islands' organisation. 'Temporary impact' A spokesperson for CI Coop said: "Due to the sustained malicious attempts by hackers to access to Co-op Group systems, they have taken proactive steps to keep their systems safe. "This is temporarily impacting our colleagues' ability to perform their roles and how many deliveries we are getting into our stores. "We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause to our members and customers." The UK Co-op has more than 2,500 supermarkets, as well as 800 funeral homes and an insurance business. It employs about 70,000 staff nationwide. Follow BBC Guernsey on X and Facebook. Follow BBC Jersey on X and Facebook. Send your story ideas to More on this story Related internet links
