Harrods hit by cyber-attack amid series of incidents targeting retail

Harrods has been hit by a cyber-attack, just days after Marks & Spencer and the Co-op were targeted.

- Sarah Butler

The luxury department store is understood to have been forced to shut down some systems, but said its website and all its stores, including the Knightsbridge flagship, H beauty and airport outlets, continued to operate. It is understood the retailer first realised it was being targeted earlier this week.

Harrods said: "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."

The retailer said it was not asking customers to take any action, indicating that it did not suspect data had been accessed. It added: "We will continue to provide updates as necessary."

The problems at Harrods, first reported by Sky News, emerged as M&S continues to battle major problems caused by a cyber-incident that has been linked to the hacking collective Scattered Spider.