The SPAR retail has been compelled to shut down a few of its convenience stores in Britain after a cybersecurity breach on its IT systems. The cyberattack happened on Sunday, currently being investigated by Lancashire Police. SPAR consists of around 2600 stores placed across the UK. Due to the incident, 330 SPAR stores in England (North) couldn't finalize the payments, made using debit or credit cards. The attack also stopped the shops from using their stock control systems and their accounting.
Meanwhile, some of the stores remained closed due impact of the attack, few of the stores have started running but currently taking only cash payments. "There has been an online attack on our IT systems which is affecting stores' ability to process card payments, meaning that a number of SPAR stores are currently closed. We apologize for any inconvenience, we are working as quickly as possible to resolve the situation," SPAR said in a tweet. A SPAR store located in Hull University campus in Yorkshire was one of the targets affected by the attack and had to be closed.
Stores presented at other locations in Yorkshire and Lancashire were also affected by the attack. SPAR disclosed on social media that the company suffer an online attack on the IT systems of its main wholesaler, James Hall, and Co. Ltd, of Preston in Lancashire. BBC reports "question for James Hall is now the one all cyber attack victims dread - shall we pay criminals to get our shops back online? But of course, for the hundreds of thousands of Spar customers affected by the hack, the more pressing question is when will their local stores open again."
The James Hall company site was closed during the time of publication. "Due to a major & widespread IT failure across the entire Northern SPAR network, all Northern SPAR stores will be closed for an unknown period of time," said SPAR Ribchester.
