Harrods becomes latest retail victim of cyber attackers

Luxury department store Harrods has become the latest retailer to be targeted by cyber hackers, following a similar incident involving Marks & Spencer that began last week.

Additional details about the apparent cyberattack remained unclear on Thursday afternoon, although one customer told Sky News he had been unable to pay for a purchase earlier in the day.

A spokesperson for Harrods told the publication: "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."

It comes as Marks & Spencer is still suffering the effects of a "cyber incident". The British department store has been struggling with its internal services after being hit by the attack over a week ago.

The retail giant is still not taking online orders and shelves in some stores are now empty after it took some of its systems offline in response to the attack. The incident first affected the firm’s contactless payment and click and collect orders.

It also comes a day after the Co-op shut down part of its IT systems to fend off a hack.

Lauren Wills-Dixon, Head of Data Privacy at law firm Gordons, said: "Harrods’ initial statement suggests that they have a robust cyber security plan in place. The cyber attack has not impacted sales and the fact that customers are not being asked to do anything differently suggests that data has not been breached. However, this incident – and the similar threats faced by Co-op and M&S this week – highlight the importance of such cyber security measures, and indeed the risk to retailers in an increasingly digital world.

"Retailers are among the most common targets for cyber attacks because of the large amounts of customer data they hold, and the increased use of technology by the industry to reduce overheads and streamline operations has raised the risk even further.

"In this new world, it's not 'if' but 'when' a cyber-attack will happen. It’s absolutely critical that retailers take legal, regulatory and best practice measures to build and maintain cyber resilience."