The UK Retail Conglomerate Co-op Group said it has shut down some of its IT systems, citing attempts at cyberattacks.
Cooperative spokesman Mark Carrington said the company “hackers have experienced a recent attempt” to infiltrate parts of its systems and has taken “active steps” to keep those systems safe. The spokesman said the company's back office and call centre functionality has faced some confusion as a result.
It is not clear whether the attempted intrusion was successful.
The cooperative, one of the UK's largest food retailers with over 5 million members, said its stores are operating normally and at this time it doesn't ask its customers to “do something different.”
When asked by TechCrunch, cooperatives do not explain the specific nature of incidents, such as ransomware. Or whether it is known or not would say whether they disclosed an incident to the UK Data Protection Regulatory Authority, the necessary information committee if there is a suspected data breach. The company confirmed it is working with the National Cybersecurity Centre.
Cooperative spokesman also doesn't say whether the company has communications with threat actors such as ransomware gangs.
News of the cooperative turmoil comes days after British retailer Marks & Spencer confirmed a cyberattack in which customers failed to receive their orders. The retailer notified UK data regulators of the incident, saying it was indicating a possible data breach. The ongoing disruption at Marks & Spencer has entered its second week.