The leading British retail chain The Works was forced to close several stores and partially stop its activities after a cyber attack. The company has disabled access to computer systems, including email, as a precautionary measure during the investigation.
As reported by The Guardian, the replenishment of stocks to stores has been temporarily stopped, and the usual delivery window for online orders has been extended, but it is expected that deliveries to stores will resume in the near future.
Payment data has not been compromised, however, the company is currently unable to establish to what extent any other data may have been affected. As a precautionary measure, the management informed the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) about the incident.
Presumably, an extortionate group is behind the attack, but The Works has not reported any ransom demands.