Another major supermarket was forced to fend off a cyberattack just days after M&S was left with empty shelves following a devastating hack.
Co-op, which has over 7,000 stores across the UK, shut down parts of its IT system after hackers tried to gain “unauthorised access” to its network earlier this week.
It comes after Scotland Yard was called in to investigate a cyberattack that left Marks & Spencer unable to fulfil contactless payments and click and collect orders, leaving it with empty shelves and a slashed market value.
Marks and Spencer is also working with experts from both the National Crime Agency and the National Cyber Security Centre to “better understand the incident and support the company”.
It said on Tuesday there was “limited availability” of items in some shops but said it was “working hard” to get availability back to normal.
A hacking group operating under the name Scattered Spider and claimed to involve British and American teenagers has been linked to the M&S attack, according to reports.
According to The Telegraph, investigators believe the attackers used a hacking tool from a group known as DragonForce, which bills itself as a “ransomware cartel”, to carry out the breach.
The latest Cyber Security Breaches Survey, published by the government earlier this month, showed that four in 10 businesses were affected by a cyberattack or breach in the last year – a slight drop on the previous year.
A Co-op spokesperson said: “We have recently experienced attempts to gain unauthorised access to some of our systems.
“As a result, we have taken proactive steps to keep our systems safe, which has resulted in a small impact to some of our back office and call centre services.
“All our stores (including quick commerce operations) and funeral homes are trading as usual. We are working hard to reduce any disruption to our services and would like to thank our colleagues, members, partners and suppliers for their understanding during this period.
“We are not asking our members or customers to do anything differently at this point. We will continue to provide updates as necessary.”
