Harrods, iconic department store, latest British retailer hit by cyberattack

LONDON — Harrods, the iconic luxury department store, has become the latest British retailer to fall victim to a cyberattack. The hack targeted the London-based retail giant, raising concerns over the vulnerability of high-end businesses to online security breaches.

Details of the cyberattack remain unclear, but some customers have reported being unable to complete purchases. The Qatar-owned department store said it was forced to temporarily shut down some systems after realizing it was being targeted earlier this week.

Harrods added that customer payment data was not compromised during the attempted breach. In a statement the store 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.”

This hacking attempt follows shortly after two other major British retailers — Marks & Spencer and Co-op — were targeted in online breaches. Both retailers have lost millions after they were forced to shut down parts of their IT systems to protect themselves from further attacks. Marks & Spencers has been unable to complete online orders since last Friday.

It’s still unclear whether the three cyber attacks are connected.