- The personal information of the 6.5 million cooperative members was stolen
- The news was confirmed by the CEO of the Shirine Khoury-Haq cooperative
- CyberATe also affected Harrods and M&S
It was confirmed that the personal information of the 6.5 million cooperative members of the United Kingdom was stolen in the cyber attack that went to the supermarket brand earlier this year.
The leak was confirmed by the CEO CO-OP, Shirine Khoury-Haq, who spoke at BBC breakfast.
“I am devastated that the information was taken. I am also devastated by the impact that our colleagues took, as well as they tried to contain all this,” said the CEO.
6.5 million stolen details
“There were no financial data, or transaction data, but they were names and addresses and contact information that was lost,” he continued, adding that it was “incredibly unfortunate” by the attack.
The Cooperative, Harrods and M&S were beaten by a significant cyber attack earlier this year that saw online orders and retired websites, with significant interruptions to the shares and the purchase for weeks later.
Khoury-HAQ added that during the attack he met with IT staff trying to remedy the damage and eliminate attacks from cooperative systems. “I will never forget the eyes on their faces, trying to fight these criminals,” he added.
The CEO also said: “I will say to my members, they took their data and hurt our clients and that I take personally.” The members of the cooperative pay a rate to join, and then they are paid a part of the profits that the business obtains every year.
Vonny Gamot, head of EMEA in McAFEE, provided Techradar for some orientation on how those affected can protect themselves better:
- 1. “Assume that you are affected: even if you have not yet received a notification of CO -op, suppose your information may have been compromised.”
- “Change your passwords immediately: begin with your cooperative account, then go to any account that shares the same password. Use strong and unique passwords for each account. This is not negotiable. In 2025, password reuse is one of the fastest ways to convert a single violation into multiple committed accounts.”
- “Enable two factors’s authentication everywhere: if you have not yet done so, enable two factors (2FA) in all accounts that admit it, starting with email, banking and shopping accounts. This adds a second crucial security layer.”
- “Monitor your financial accounts: verify bank extracts, credit card invoices and investment accounts for any unusual activity. Set accounts alerts if you have not yet done so, many financial institutions offer real -time transactions notifications.”
- “Consider the online protection tools that your safe information can maintain with early alerts that show you if your data is on the Dark website. The McAfee scam detector can also alert it to text messages and suspect emails she receives, which is particularly valuable after a rape when criminals often launch Phishing campaigns directed with Stolen contact information.”
