Harrods cyber attack: Luxury store is latest target in worrying trend

Harrods has become the latest Brit chain to be targeted in an attack by hackers, with the luxury brand having fought off attempts to "gain unauthorised access" to its systems.

confirmed this evening its IT security team was forced to act following what appeared to be multiple attempts to "gain unauthorised access" to its systems. A spokesperson said the firm was forced to restrict internet access to some of its sites, but, like other hacking incidents that hit the and , told customers they would not need to do anything differently. The other two were targeted by hackers in recent days, with M&S' operations still suffering after the Easter weekend attack.

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Co-op was forced to suspend some of its services on Wednesday, the same day M&S suspended its online sales for their fifth day, knocking out up to £3.8million of daily revenue.

The Co-op breach led the firm to shut down some of its business services, with the stock monitoring system having also been affected. A Co-op spokesperson said: “We have recently experienced attempts to gain unauthorised access to some of our systems.

“As a result, we have taken proactive steps to keep our systems safe, which has resulted in a small impact to some of our back office and call centre services.

“We are working hard to reduce any disruption to our services and would like to thank our colleagues, members, partners and suppliers for their understanding during this period.”

A spokesperson for Harrods confirmed all of its sites remain "open to welcome customers" with people also still able to shop online at harrods.com.

They 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."

Experts have warned cyber attacks in supermarkets will likely become more commonplace in the near future, with hackers looking to extract "attractive" information from massive databases.

Speaking to The , Dr Jassim Happa, a senior lecturer in information security at Royal Holloway University of London, warned that, if attacks are not caught early enough, customers could be placed at increased risk. He told the Mirror: "As technologies advance, we see an increase in automation and sophistication in attacks.

"These types of incidents are becoming more common as a result. Supermarkets, with their volumes of customer data, present attractive targets for attackers. While immediate shopper risk is often minimal if attacks are caught early, longer-term risks like identity theft or fraud can emerge, particularly if sensitive data in payment or loyalty systems are leaked."