Data on all 6.5m Co-op members stolen in attack - CEO

(Sharecast News) - The Co-op confirmed on Wednesday that the personal details of all 6.5 million of its members were stolen in a cyber-attack earlier in the year, in one of the most significant data breaches to hit a UK retailer. Names, addresses and contact information were exposed in the April attack, although the group stressed that no financial or transactional data was compromised.

Co-op chief executive Shirine Khoury-Haq said she was "incredibly sorry" for the breach and described it as a personal blow.

"It hurt my members, they took their data and it hurt our customers and that I do take personally," she told the BBC.

Khoury-Haq added that while much of the stolen data was already publicly accessible, members were right to be concerned.

"We know a lot of that information is out there anyway, but people will be worried and all members should be concerned."

The breach forced the Co-op to shut down parts of its IT systems, causing disruption to grocery deliveries and leading its funeral services to revert to manual operations.

It said it was able to detect and contain the hackers' activity quickly, but admitted it did not expect to recover significant costs from insurers, having chosen to invest in threat detection over cyber-insurance.

Four people aged between 17 and 20 were arrested last week in connection with the attack, as well as other attacks on Marks and Spencer and Harrods.

All were bailed pending further investigation by the National Crime Agency and police.

Authorities were examining links to the hacking group Scattered Spider.

As part of its response, the Co-op announced a strategic partnership with The Hacking Games, a UK social impact initiative that aimed to steer young cyber talent toward ethical careers.

The programme would begin with a pilot in Co-op Academies Trust, which runs 38 schools, and would include an independent research study led by Oxford University cybercrime expert Professor David Lusthaus.

"Our members expect us to find a cooperative means of tackling the cause, not just the symptom," Khoury-Haq said.

"When we expand opportunity we reduce risk, while having a positive impact on society."

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.