UK: Cyberattack forces Spar to close 300 stores

Although some of its stores managed to avoid having their operations affected by switching payment methods, the company's IT systems were compromised.

Supermarket chain Spar was forced to close more than 300 of its UK-based stores after what was confirmed as a ransomware attack last Tuesday. The cyberattack compromised the firm’s IT systems and disabled card transactions as payment methods. The organization responsible for the cyberattack has not been identified up until now.

In a public statement, the Lancashire-based company confirmed that its staff payroll wasn’t affected by the attack. Likewise, some of its stores managed to avoid being affected by switching from electronic payment methods to cash.

A spokesperson of the James Hall and Company, the family business that operates most of Spar’s retail stores, confirmed to the local media outlet Sky News that the incident left staff without access to emails. Although he couldn’t confirm if the stores that operate independently of James Hall managed to avoid being affected by the incident, which could potentially have left zero-hours contractors unable to work.