Latest news with #CoopGroup
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
UK retail giant Co-op confirms hackers stole all 6.5 million customer records
The chief executive of U.K. retail conglomerate the Co-op on Wednesday said that hackers had stolen the personal data of all of the company's customers during an April cyberattack. Co-op Group CEO Shirine Khoury-Haq told BBC News that the hackers copied the company's member list of 6.5 million members, but that the Co-op shut down its network before the hackers could lock up its systems with ransomware. The members' data includes names, addresses, and contact information. The retailer's network shutdown subsequently resulted in widespread internal disruption across its U.K. back offices and grocery stores. The breach at the Co-op in April was part of a broader hacking campaign targeting the U.K. retail sector, which also saw the theft of an unspecified amount of customer data from Marks & Spencer and an attempted cyberattack on Harrods. The cyberattacks were attributed to Scattered Spider, a collective of mostly young hackers that use deception tactics to trick companies' IT helpdesks into granting them access to their network. Earlier in July, U.K. authorities arrested four people for allegedly having links to the retail cyberattacks, including a 20-year-old woman, two men aged 19, and a youth aged 17. The four are accused of hacking, blackmail, and participating as a member of an organized crime group. Since the cyberattacks, the hackers reportedly moved on to target the airline and transportation industry, as well as insurance companies — sectors that store vast amounts of consumers' data. It's not known how much the breach at the Co-op will cost it. According to one retail industry news outlet, the Co-op did not have cybersecurity insurance at the time of the hack, which could result in the company incurring heavy financial costs. Sign in to access your portfolio
TechCrunch
5 days ago
- Business
- TechCrunch
UK retail giant Co-op confirms hackers stole all 6.5 million customer records
The chief executive of U.K. retail conglomerate the Co-op on Wednesday said that hackers had stolen the personal data of all of the company's customers during an April cyberattack. Co-op Group CEO Shirine Khoury-Haq told BBC News that the hackers copied the company's member list of 6.5 million members, but that the Co-op shut down its network before the hackers could lock up its systems with ransomware. The members' data includes names, addresses, and contact information. The retailer's network shutdown subsequently resulted in widespread internal disruption across its U.K. back offices and grocery stores. The breach at the Co-op in April was part of a broader hacking campaign targeting the U.K. retail sector, which also saw the theft of an unspecified amount of customer data from Marks & Spencer and an attempted cyberattack on Harrods. The cyberattacks were attributed to Scattered Spider, a collective of mostly young hackers that use deception tactics to trick companies' IT helpdesks into granting them access to their network. Earlier in July, U.K. authorities arrested four people for allegedly having links to the retail cyberattacks, including a 20-year-old woman, two men aged 19, and a youth aged 17. The four are accused of hacking, blackmail, and participating as a member of an organized crime group. Since the cyberattacks, the hackers reportedly moved on to target the airline and transportation industry, as well as insurance companies — sectors that store vast amounts of consumers' data. It's not known how much the breach at the Co-op will cost it. According to one retail industry news outlet, the Co-op did not have cybersecurity insurance at the time of the hack, which could result in the company incurring heavy financial costs.
Asharq Al-Awsat
25-06-2025
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Britain's Co-op to Stop Sourcing from Israel
British food retailer the Co-op Group will cease sourcing products and ingredients from 17 countries, including Israel, where there are "internationally recognized" human rights abuses and violations of international law, it said on Tuesday. The Co-op, which is owned by its members and trades from over 2,300 food stores across the UK, said it would stop selling carrots from Israel from this month as part of a commitment to no longer stock Israeli goods, Reuters reported. The company's prohibited list follows a board review of the Co-op's role "in building peace". European nations have been increasingly critical of the civilian toll of Israel's military campaign against Hamas since the Palestinian militant group's October 7, 2023 attack on Israeli communities. Other countries on the Co-op list include Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, Libya and Syria. "The voices of our members have been listened to and then acted upon," Debbie White, chair of the Co-op Group board, said. "As a business, we have a long-standing legacy of doing the right thing, supporting Fairtrade and championing ethical sourcing, and this policy is a natural progression of this." Tesco, Britain's biggest food retailer, does not source products from Israeli settlements within the occupied Palestinian territories. However, along with other UK retailers it does source from Israel in line with government advice. Last month, the independent board of Ben & Jerry's said the conflict in Gaza was a genocide, escalating a bitter feud between the ice cream maker and its longtime London-based corporate parent Unilever.
Al Arabiya
25-06-2025
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Italian Coop supermarkets to stop selling Israeli products in solidarity with Gaza
An Italian supermarket chain says it has stopped selling Israeli products in solidarity with Palestinians affected by war and hunger in the Gaza Strip. The decision, announced on Tuesday and the first for a major Italian food retailer, will mean that the Coop Alleanza 3.0 will remove Israeli peanuts, tahini sauce and SodaStream carbonated water makers from its shelves, a statement said. In an additional sign of support for people in Gaza, supermarkets have also started selling the pro-Palestinian Gaza Cola fizzy drink, the statement added. Coop Alleanza 3.0 is the largest cooperative in the Coop Italia network, comprising almost 350 stores in eight Italian regions from Friuli-Venezia Giulia in the north to Puglia in the south. The cooperative 'cannot remain indifferent to the ongoing violence in the Gaza Strip and united in calling for the immediate cessation of military operations,' it said. Coop supermarket chains in Florence and the central regions of Tuscany, Lazio and Umbria are also no longer stocking Israeli products, spokespeople said, insisting, however, that this did not amount to a formal boycott of Israeli products. Israel's war in Gaza has triggered protests by some retailers and consumers internationally. On Tuesday British food retailer the Co-op Group, a separate entity to Italy's Coop, announced it would cease sourcing products from Israel and 16 other countries where it said there were human rights abuses and violations of international law. Israel has strongly denied accusations that it has committed war crimes and breaches of international law in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The Independent
25-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Supermarket to stop selling Israeli carrots and Russian vodka in new ‘peace' policy
Co-op is set to remove products, including Israeli carrots and Russian vodka, from its shelves as part of a new policy aimed at boycotting goods from "countries of concern". The supermarket chain announced it will cease sourcing relationships with nations where there are "internationally recognised community-wide human rights abuses and violations of international law," stating the move is intended to "support peace and co-operation." Under the new policy, the grocer will, wherever possible, avoid using ingredients in Co-op branded products or selling whole items from 17 identified "countries of concern." Specific products on the prohibited list include carrots from Israel, Russian vodka, and mangoes from Mali. These items will be phased out from Co-op stores and products, with the process commencing this month. The supermarket said the policy had been approved by the Co-op Group Board and coincided with the start of Co-op Fortnight in the UK. It followed a year of 'detailed analysis' and was based on three criteria: agreement across respected assessments of behaviour which would constitute community-wide human rights abuses or violations of international law; that the actions Co-op could take would make a difference to those affected; and that the grocer's actions would not negatively affect its integrity as a commercially successful business aligned with co-operative values and principles. Over recent years, Co-op members had made clear through surveys, engagement and motions that conflict was one of their biggest concerns and that 'their Co-op should do all it can to advocate and build peace', it said. Debbie White, chairwoman of the Co-op Group Board, said: 'This policy – which has been developed over the past year as a part of our Hate Divides Communities, Co-operation Builds Them campaign – is a clear demonstration of our co-operative values in action, where the voices of our members have been listened to and then acted upon. 'We are committed, where we can, to removing products and ingredients from our shelves which are sourced from those countries where the international consensus demonstrates there is not alignment with what happens in those countries and our co-operative values and principles. 'As a business, we have a long-standing legacy of doing the right thing, supporting Fairtrade and championing ethical sourcing, and this policy is a natural progression of this.'
