Harrods latest retailer to face cyber attack

Harrods has become the latest retailer to be targeted by cyber attacks, only days after Marks and Spencer and the Co-op were similarly targeted. The luxury department store confirmed it has “restricted internet access” in an attempt to fend off the attack, and according to Sky News, is engaging specialists to help resolve and investigate the issue.

While further details of the cyber attack were unclear as of yesterday (1 May), one customer told Sky he had been unable to pay for a purchase earlier in the day. Customers can continue to shop online, however, while stores remain open. 

A Harrods spokesperson told Retail Sector: “We recently experienced attempts to gain unauthorised access to some of our systems.

“Our seasoned IT security team immediately took proactive steps to keep systems safe, and as a result, we have restricted internet access at our sites today.”

They added: “Currently, all sites including our Knightsbridge store, H beauty stores and airport stores remain open to welcome customers. 

“Customers can also continue to shop via harrods.com. We are not asking our customers to do anything differently at this point, and we will continue to provide updates as necessary.”

The news comes only days after Marks and Spencer was hit by a cyber attack which caused a widespread outage of M&S’s contactless payments and click-and-collect services, forcing customers to ditch their full weekly shops at the checkout while leaving shelves empty at some of its stores.

The incident also wiped out hundreds of millions of pounds from M&S’s market value. 

Investigators suspect the breach was carried out using a hacking tool from DragonForce, a group that describes itself as a “ransomware cartel”.

It is understood that a ransomware attack disabled many of the company’s systems. In such cases cyber criminals can encrypt data and demand payment, while also threatening to leak stolen information.

Meanwhile, the Co-op shut down parts of its IT systems this week in response to hackers attempting to gain access to them.

The company stated that the “proactive measures” it had taken to fend off the attack had had a “small impact” on its call centre and back office.

Despite this, all of the company’s stores, including quick commerce operations and funeral homes, are trading as usual.