Co-op fends off hackers as police probe M&S cyber attack

The Co-op has shut down components of its IT programs in response to hackers trying to achieve entry to them.

It mentioned the “proactive measures” it had taken to fend off the assault had had a “small affect” on its name centre and again workplace.

In the meantime, The Metropolitan Police has confirmed it is trying into the most important cyber assault at fellow retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S).

“Detectives from the Met’s cyber crime unit are investigating,” it mentioned in an announcement.

It’s not recognized whether or not there may be any hyperlink between the 2 incidents.

There are greater than 2,500 Co-op supermarkets within the UK, in addition to 800 funeral houses. It additionally offers meals to Nisa retailers.

A spokesperson confirmed its retailers and funeral houses had been working as typical following the tried hack.

“We’re working onerous to scale back any disruption to our companies and want to thank our colleagues, members, companions and suppliers for his or her understanding throughout this era,” they mentioned.

“We’re not asking our members or clients to do something otherwise at this level.”

It comes as M&S enters the second week of a cyber attack that has triggered chaos costing it tens of millions of kilos in misplaced gross sales.

The retailer has not mentioned what took out its on-line ordering programs and left empty cabinets in shops.

Ciaran Martin, the founding Chief Govt of the Nationwide Cyber Safety Centre (NCSC), advised the Immediately programme on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday it had “critical” penalties for M&S.

“It’s a extremely disruptive occasion and a really tough one for them to cope with,” he mentioned.

Specialists have advised the BBC they imagine the cyber assault affecting M&S is a results of ransomware referred to as DragonForce.

Ransomware is malicious software program which locks an proprietor out of their laptop or community and scrambles their information – with the criminals demanding a price to unlock it.

It’s not recognized whether or not the Co-op found the hacking try because of any additional safety checks following the cyber assault on its excessive road rival.

Dan Card, cyber skilled at BCS, the chartered institute for IT, mentioned it was “very uncommon” for a agency to take programs offline after an tried hack.

“Taking programs offline is often indicative of both a lack of management or to defend in opposition to a zero day the place no patch is offered,” he mentioned.

A “zero day” is a time period for a vulnerability in a pc system which its homeowners do not learn about – which means anyone can exploit it.

There have been comparable hacking makes an attempt on grocery store chains previously, with Morrisons being impacted by an incident in December 2024.

In the meantime, the banks Barclays and Lloyds had been hit by outages earlier in 2025.