The recent wave of cyber-attacks on UK retailers should serve as a “wake-up call” for businesses across the country, a senior government minister has warned.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden said that the recent incidents impacting household names like Marks & Spencer (M&S), the Co-op and Harrods, demonstrated that cybersecurity is not a luxury but an absolute necessity.
During the opening plenary session at the 2025 CYBERUK event, McFadden noted that there was previously a time when a government minister making a speech about cybersecurity was something “routine” and not having much connection with the real world.
This is no longer the case, he emphasized, particularly given the events of the past few weeks.
“These cyber-attacks are not a game. Not a clever exercise. They are serious organized crime. Their purpose is to damage and extort. It’s the digital version of an old-fashioned shake down. Either straight theft or a protection racket where your business will be safe as long as you pay the gangsters,” McFadden warned.
The attacks on the three retailers have been connected to the DragonForce cybercriminal syndicate. Experts believe the individuals involved in the attacks are likely associated with the Scattered Spider ransomware gang.
The hackers contacted several media outlets, including the BBC and Bloomberg, with evidence that they had infiltrated the three UK retailers’ IT networks and stolen large amounts of customer and employee data.
The attacks have also had a significant impact on the operations of M&S and Co-op, including M&S pausing online orders as it looks to mitigate the incident.
Co-op has also confirmed that hackers had exfiltrate data from one of its systems.
Source: Infosecurity News