British luxury department store Harrods has become the most recent victim of a cyber attack targeted on UK retailers in a span of just two weeks.
This follows a breach at Marks & Spencer on 22 April 2025 and another at the Co-op Group just days later, underlining a troubling trend of digital threats within the retail sector.
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Harrods deactivated certain systems after detecting unauthorised attempts to access them. Despite these challenges, its website and physical stores are still operational, and online shopping at the retailer’s website has resumed normal operation.
Harrods’ statement was quoted by the BBC: “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.”
The company indicated that there was no immediate need for customers to act, suggesting confidence that customer data remains uncompromised.
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By GlobalData“We will continue to provide updates as necessary,” it added.
Harrods, whic is owned by a Qatari sovereign wealth fund, is working with cybersecurity experts to address and scrutinise the incident, according to a report from Sky News.
Marks & Spencer experienced disruptions that impacted services such as contactless payments and online order pickups. It temporarily suspended all online orders through its website and applications.
The Co-op, which runs 2,000 grocery outlets across the UK, also had to partially shut down its IT systems after detecting a cyber threat.
Responding to the cyber incident impacting UK retailers, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said that it is “working with organisations affected”.
NCSC CEO Dr Richard Horne stated: “The disruption caused by the recent incidents impacting the retail sector are naturally a cause for concern to those businesses affected, their customers and the public.
“The NCSC continues to work closely with organisations that have reported incidents to us to fully understand the nature of these attacks and to provide expert advice to the wider sector based on the threat picture.
“These incidents should act as a wake-up call to all organisations. I urge leaders to follow the advice on the NCSC website to ensure they have appropriate measures in place to help prevent attacks and respond and recover effectively.”
