- A third British retailer has been beaten with a cyber attack
- The M&S incident is probably a scatteredspider ransomware attack
- Retailers are at risk due to high inactivity costs
Harrods luxury department stores have become the third British retailer to be hit by a cyber attack in a matter of days, and the company restricts Internet access in its sites after an attempt to access their systems.
The incident closely follows that a previous attack aimed at Marks & Spencer, which causes generalized interruptions in stores and the retail platform, is supposedly the work of dispersed computer pirates.
The third incident, a cyber attack in the giant retail cooperative, forced the supermarket to tear down parts of their IT systems and take proactive measures to defend against the attackers.
Certainly, there are similarities between the reports of the incidents, and in such a rapid succession it seems likely that there is a link between them, but the scope of the attacks has not yet been seen, this is what we know so far.
No known link
Despite the times and similarities, there is no official link between the incidents, although the three incidents are likely to be in progress, so more information can be revealed as attacks develop.
Meanwhile, safety equipment must be ultra vigilant and must implement the best final point protection software to maintain their safe organization.
The Executive Vice President of Emea de Sonicwall, Spencer Starkey, explains ransomware, “has hostages of commercial operations of victims organizations, which uniquely impacts retail and other organizations that provide direct services daily to their customers.”
As we have seen in the continuous interruption of the M&S attack, these incidents can have a devastating effect, with the price of supermarket shares falling 7%, causing millions in lost sales and inactivity time.
Starkey explains that these attacks are particularly harmful to retailers, since they directly affect income generation, which provides additional leverage for attackers, and warns that companies should operate with the presumption that they will inevitably be directed, so they should develop a comprehensive incident response plan.
No yes, but when
Concerns are increasing for companies throughout the country, and retail attacks have increased considerably since the development of AI tools designed to help cybercriminals send more frequent and sophisticated attacks.
The head of the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), Dr. Richard Horne, warned that these attacks should serve as a “attention call” for all organizations, and urges security leaders to ensure that they have “appropriate measures to help prevent attacks and respond and recover effectively.”
The former Cyber chief of the NSA, Cody Barrow, also warns that generative AI is “accelerating the landscape of threats”, and those sophisticated attacks such as social engineering and adaptive malware campaigns are now available even for attackers with low qualification.
In particular, criminals can send an incredible number of social engineering attacks, which are specifically designed to deceive victims to provide attackers access to their networks.
Best safety practices recommend using the best antivirus software, the best malware elimination software and training all personnel to recognize Phishing attacks.
These attacks describe how vulnerable the sector is, and Barrow argues that this is “due to the volume of client data and the high cost of operating inactivity time.” Although, the reality is that almost all sectors face more threats than ever.
“Retailers must assume that they are objectives. The response plans to incidents tested, the clear communication protocols and the authentication of multiple factors for administrative access are now essential. The detection of final points and the response tools must be standard, not optional.
