Latest news with #ShirineKhouryHaq
Times
17-07-2025
- Business
- Times
All 6.5m Co-op members had data stolen in cyberattack
All 6.5 million members of Co-op had their data stolen in the cyberattack in April, the retailer's chief executive has revealed. Shirine Khoury-Haq said she was 'incredibly sorry' for the attack that resulted in names, addresses and contact information being accessed. She told BBC Breakfast that 'no financial data, no transaction data' had been compromised but acknowledged that people will be worried and that 'all members should be concerned'. Co-op is owned by its members, who receive rewards when it generates profit and help to make decisions. The retail group shut its IT systems after the attack, leading to supply and payment issues. It was one of three high-profile cyberattacks in Britain last spring; Marks & Spencer and Harrods were also targeted. Four people have been arrested and were bailed on Wednesday. Khoury-Haq said: 'I'm devastated that information was taken. I'm also devastated by the impact that it took on our colleagues as they tried to contain all of this. 'Early on I met with our IT staff and they were in the midst of it. I will never forget the looks on their faces, trying to fight off these criminals and protect our members' data and trying to protect our organisation as well. That will never leave me.' She added: 'We realised it was happening when the cybercriminals started moving around within our systems and that is when we took action to stop them. It meant shutting down our systems quite dramatically. The good news was that we managed to keep our front lines open — our stores and funeral homes stayed open but the impact on colleagues, the impact on our stores, our members, was significant.' The four people were arrested on July 10: a British 17-year-old and Latvian 19-year-old from the West Midlands, a British 19-year-old from London and a British 20-year-old from Staffordshire. They were all arrested at their homes on suspicion of blackmail, money laundering, offences linked to the Computer Misuse Act and participating in the activities of an organised crime group, according to the National Crime Agency. The police seized electronic devices from the properties. M&S was the first of the retailers to be targeted in a cyberattack and was forced to shut a host of systems on Easter Sunday. Its website was shut for six weeks, fuelling a bill that the company put at about £300 million. On Wednesday the Co-op announced a partnership with The Hacking Games, a business that identifies young people with 'unconventional' cyber talents and coaches them for careers in cybersecurity rather than crime.
The Independent
16-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Co-op chief ‘personally hurt' following cyber attack that stole 6.5 million members' data
Co-op 's chief executive has confirmed that all 6.5 million members had their data stolen during a cyber attack in April. Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Wednesday (16 July), Shirine Khoury-Haq said that she was 'personally hurt' after the attack, which saw hackers obtain names, addresses and contact information. She revealed: 'Their data was copied, the criminals did have access to it like they do when they hack organisations. That is the awful part of this.' Ms Khoury-Haq said that Co-op members, who are all paid a share of the business' profits, had been 'hurt' by the cyber attack, something she said she takes 'personally'.
Daily Mail
16-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
All 6.5m Co-op members had their data stolen in cyber attack earlier this year, retailer admits
All 6.5m members of the Co-op had data stolen in the cyber attack against the UK retailer earlier this year, the business revealed. Shirine Khoury-Haq, boss of the retail and funeral care group, said she was 'devastated' by the impact of the attack on workers and members. In late April, the company shut off parts of its IT systems after the attack, in which hackers accessed and extracted members' personal data. Khoury-Haq said 'names, addresses and contact information' for all of its members were accessed.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- 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
16-07-2025
- 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.
