Tue, 20 May 2025

Tue, 20 May 2025 Police investigation into UK retail hacks focuses on English-speaking youths

The National Crime Agency tells the BBC how it is trying to find the culprits of the M&S and Co-op hacks.
Detectives investigating cyber attacks on UK retailers are focusing on a group called Scattered Spider, which is believed to be behind recent disruptions at M&S, Co-op, Harrods and other companies. The National Crime Agency (NCA) has confirmed that Scattered Spider is one of several groups being investigated, but it's not clear if they are the primary suspects. The attacks began in April and have caused empty shelves, online ordering suspensions, and data breaches affecting millions of people. The hackers are using DragonForce, a platform for carrying out ransomware attacks. Experts believe Scattered Spider is a loose community of young individuals who communicate online through platforms like Discord and Telegram. While the NCA hasn't confirmed their involvement, they are exploring all possible leads. M&S has been severely impacted, with ransomware scrambling its servers and causing computer systems to become useless. The company's shelves remain largely empty, and online shopping remains suspended. Co-op staff took down their systems to prevent a similar infection, but customer and employee data was stolen and is being held for ransom. Harrods' situation is unclear, but the company admitted that it had to pull its computer systems offline due to an attempted cyber attack. When hackers behind the M&S and Co-op attacks contacted the BBC anonymously last week, they declined to confirm whether or not they were Scattered Spider. US authorities have charged several individuals believed to be involved with Scattered Spider in the past. The group has been linked to high-profile attacks on US casinos and Transport for London. The National Cyber Security Centre has issued guidance urging organizations to review their IT help desk password reset processes, citing social engineering techniques used by hackers.
  >>