The Works has been forced to shut shops temporarily and suspend new stock deliveries after a cyber-attack.

The retailer said five of its 526 shops have been closed since last week after hackers gained access to its computer systems and caused issues with its tills.

Customers are experiencing longer delivery times for online orders as a result.

It is important to say that no shoppers’ payment details had been compromised.

The issue has been described as a ransomware attack.

The UK National Cyber Security Centre states ” ransomware is a type of malware that prevents you from accessing your computer (or the data that is stored on it). The computer itself may become locked, or the data on it might be stolen, deleted or encrypted. Some ransomware will also try to spread to other machines on the network.

The Works disabled all access to its systems, including email, as a precautionary measure once it found out.

The retail company has told the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) about the attack. The ICO can enforce fines in cases of serious data breaches.

While there’s no evidence that this attack eminates from Russia, it is clear that companies in Europe and the USA are being targeted by Russian hackers and this has been stepped up during the current war in Ukraine.

If you are concerned about your security or are looking to upgrade, please contact UK Business IT, see www.ukbusinessit.co.uk/contact-us.