Harrods cyber attack: Luxury retailer targeted in latest string of high-profile IT hacks
Harrods has become the latest major UK retailer to be targeted by cyber hackers, joining Marks & Spencer and the Co-op Group in a growing string of high-profile cyber attacks affecting retail operations across the country.
The luxury department store confirmed on Thursday that it had recently experienced unauthorised attempts to breach its systems. In a statement to Sky News, a Harrods spokesperson said: "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.
“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."
While the full scale of the Harrods breach remains unclear, one customer reported being unable to make a purchase earlier in the day. The company, owned by a Qatari sovereign wealth fund, is reportedly working with cyber security experts to investigate the incident.
The development follows a significant cyber attack on Marks & Spencer, which has been dealing with a ransomware breach for more than a week. The attack, believed to be linked to the hacking group Scattered Spider, forced the high street chain to pause online orders, click-and-collect services, and contactless payments, the latter of which have since been restored.
A spokesperson for M&S said earlier this week: “While we proactively manage the cyber incident, we are temporarily pausing some of our normal processes so we can continue to work hard on offering the best M&S for our customers and colleagues. Job adverts will be up again in due course.”
The cyber attack has also disrupted M&S’s recruitment systems, with all online job adverts temporarily pulled. A message on its careers site currently reads: “Sorry you can’t search or apply for roles right now, we’re working hard to be back online as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, The Co-op Group was also targeted by cyber criminals this week and was forced to shut off parts of its IT systems, though it confirmed that all grocery and funeral home services remained operational.
The Metropolitan Police has confirmed it is investigating the M&S cyber attack.