Detectives from the Met Police’s Cyber Crime Unit are investigating the cyber attack on Marks & Spencer, which has halted online shopping and left some store shelves empty.
Online shopping at the high street retailer is still down after a cyber attack that hit over Easter Weekend, and gift card use is also disrupted.
Since the problems began, the company’s stock market value has dropped by more than £700 million.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Met said: “We were called on Wednesday, 23 April regarding a cyber-incident at Marks & Spencer. Detectives from the Met’s Cyber Crime Unit are investigating. Enquiries continue.”
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has also confirmed to ITV News that it is “working with Marks & Spencer to support their response to the cyber incident.”
Reports surfaced on Tuesday that a shadowy cyber group, known as Scattered Spider, was behind the attack. The group is infamous for targeting large companies and stealing their data.
Hackers are believed to have accessed M&S systems through a Microsoft product called Active Directory, which allows users to log in once and access all systems.
Cybersecurity expert Professor Alan Woodward told ITV News that the attackers may have extracted a file containing passwords, though they likely couldn’t retrieve the passwords themselves.
However, gaining such access could allow them to disrupt the network.
M&S has not provided a timeline for when normal services will resume and has refused to update on the cyber attack.
The disruption is ongoing, with reports that the retailer has told agency staff at its East Midlands distribution centre not to report for work and locked out all remote employees from their IT systems.
ITV News understands that several stores and online Ocado orders are facing product shortages due to continued distribution problems.
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