Marks & Spencer hackers have reportedly sent an abuse-filled ransom demand to the retail giant’s boss.
The email was sent to M&S chief executive Stuart Machin in broken English on the April 23, according to the BBC.
It is said to have been sent from the hacker group DragonForce using an employee email account.
“We have marched the ways from China all the way to the UK and have mercilessly raped your company and encrypted all the servers,” the hackers reportedly wrote.
“The dragon wants to speak to you so please head over to [our darknet website].”
The email confirms for the first time that M&S has been hacked by the cybercriminal group.
The BBC reports that the message includes a racist term and was sent to Mr Machin and seven other executives.
The extortion email reportedly includes a darknet link connecting to a portal for DragonForce victims to begin negotiating the ransom fee.
The hackers wrote: “Let’s get the party started. Message us, we will make this fast and easy for us.”
M&S has refused to say whether they paid any ransom to the hackers.
A spokesperson told The Standard: “We cannot comment on details of or speculation on the cyber incident, and we have been advised not to.”
The retailer was targeted by hackers over Easter, forcing it to stop taking online orders from customers and leaving shelves empty.
M&S has said disruption from the “highly sophisticated” cyber attack is expected to continue through to July, causing losses of around £300million.
