Google: U.S. retail sector at risk from hacking group

WASHINGTON >> Alphabet’s Google said hackers responsible for paralyzing disruptions of U.K. retailers are turning their attention to similar companies in the United States.

“U.S. retailers should take note. These actors are aggressive, creative, and particularly effective at circumventing mature security programs,” John Hultquist, an analyst at Google’s cybersecurity arm, said in an email sent today.

The culprit is a group connected with “Scattered Spider,” a nickname for a loosely interconnected network of hackers of varying levels of sophistication, it added.

Scattered Spider is widely reported to have been behind the particularly disruptive hack at M&S, one of the best-known names in British business, whose online operations have been frozen since April 25.

It has a history of focusing on a single sector at a time and is likely to target retail for a while longer, Hultquist said.

Hackers from the Scattered Spider ecosystem have been behind a slew of disruptive break-ins on both sides of the Atlantic. In 2023 hackers tied to the group made headlines for hacking casino operators MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment.

Law enforcement has struggled to get a handle on the Scattered Spider hacking groups, in part because of their amorphousness, the hackers’ youth, and a lack of cooperation from cybercrime victims.