The Works has temporarily shut some of its shops and suspended deliveries to stores in response to a cyberattack last week that involved “unauthorised access to its computer systems”.
Shoppers have also faced longer delivery times for orders placed on the retailer’s website following the cybersecurity breach.
Five of its stores have been closed since last week after issues impacted the tills due to the attack.
The Works has said that store deliveries are expected to resume imminently, while normal delivery times for online customers are being reintroduced.
The retailer also stated that no debit or credit card data was compromised in the attack as payment information is not processed by its own systems.
The retailer said in a statement: “Customers can continue to shop safely at The Works, both in store and online. All debit and credit card payment data are processed securely outside the group’s systems, via accredited third-party networks and, therefore, there is no risk that this payment data has been accessed improperly.”
In response to the incident, The Works has disabled all internal and external access to its systems, including email, while external cybersecurity experts evaluate the impact of the breach and resolve existing issues. It has also informed the Information Commissioner’s Office about the attack as it works to figure out if other data has been compromised.
The retailer will also invest further in cybersecurity measures following the breach and does not expect the attack to have an impact on its forecasts or financial position for the year.
The news of the cyberattack comes following reports of data breaches in other retailers at the end of last year. Tesco’s website was hit by hackers in October, while 300 Spar stores were impacted by an attack in December.
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