H&M investigating cyber attack claims, reports say

H&M has said it is investigating claims it was targeted by a cybercriminal last week, it has been reported.

The Swedish fashion giant said it was looking into a potential cybersecurity incident made by a group called Shinyhunters, The Times reported on Monday.

The hacking gang had previously claimed it was behind a major cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover last summer, along with other hacking groups known as Scattered Spider and Lapsus.

It had also reportedly demanded around £400,000 in a ransom payment to prevent data being sold after attacking Ticketmaster in 2024.

H&M group has a roster of fashion and homeware brands including Cos, Weekday, & Other Stories and Arket (Andrew Matthews/PA)

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An H&M Group spokeswoman told The Times: “We are aware of the claims circulating online regarding a potential cybersecurity incident involving a limited scope of H&M Group data.

“Protecting the security of our systems and data is of utmost importance to us.”

She added: “We are currently investigating these claims to assess their validity and so far we have no indication that our data environment has been compromised.

“We take any potential threat to our systems and data seriously and as this work is ongoing, we are unable to provide further details at this time.

The H&M group, which has 4,000 stores in more than 80 markets, has a roster of fashion and homeware brands including Cos, Weekday, & Other Stories and Arket.

The retailer has been contacted for comment.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent data watchdog, had not received a report on the incident as at Monday lunchtime, according to the report.

Organisations must report personal data breaches to the ICO within 72 hours of becoming aware of them, unless they do not pose a risk to people’s rights and freedoms.

It is not known whether the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a part of GCHQ, has been contacted.

Companies are not legally required to directly notify the NCSC about cyber security incidents.

Last month, H&M said net sales had increased £4.4 billion between June and September (Yui Mok/PA)

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H&M shares were down 1.5% on Monday.

Last month, the company said net sales had increased to 57.2 billion Swedish krona (£4.4 billion) between June and September, which was 1% higher than the year before.

It marked a return to growth after sales declined by 3% over the first half of the financial year.

H&M could have been the latest group targeted by hackers, after fast fashion business Asos last week said an “unauthorised party” had gained access to some personal data, including names and contact details.

Last Tuesday, Asos customers received a phone alert saying that the retailer had been hacked, which claimed the data storage firm Snowflake had been compromised.

The retailer, which has 16.5 million customers, stressed no payment card information or account passwords were accessed.

Snowflake later said the breach was not caused by a vulnerability or flaw with its platform.