Ransomhouse targets Shoprite in latest attack – TechCrunch

RansomHouse, a ransomware gang has claimed responsibility for the cyberattack on Shoprite, Africa’s largest retailer.

Shoprite confirmed the attack a week ago. The attacker compromised customer data in Eswatini and Namibia, according to the company. said. Shoprite said the data breach “included names and ID numbers, but no financial information or bank account numbers.”

In messages posted on RansomHouse’s Telegram channel and seen by TechCrunch, the gang, which is saidTargeting companies with weak security, it claimed to have obtained 600 gigabytes data from Shoprite. It said to have collected personal data that was “in plain text/raw photos packed in archived files, completely unprotected.”

The group also claimed to have contacted Shoprite’s management for negotiations, and also hinting that they will sell the data and make some of it public if the talks failed.

TechCrunch reached Shoprite to confirm that RansomHouse had contacted them and to obtain more information, including the number of customers who were affected by the attack. The retailer declined to comment, but referred us to. this statementThey posted shortly after the incident.

In the statement, the retailer saidIt was continuing investigations and had notified South Africa’s information regulator (SA) that it was aware of the findings.

“An investigation was immediately launched with forensic experts and other data security professionals to establish the origin, nature, and scope of this incident,” said Shoprite.

“Additional security measures to protect against further data loss were implemented by amending authentication processes and fraud prevention and detection strategies to protect customer data. Access to affected areas of the network has also been locked down,” it said.

The group advised customers affected by the data to take precautionary measures, but did not mention any misuse of or publication.

“The Group (Shoprite) is not aware of any misuse or publication of customer data that may have been acquired, however, web monitoring relating to the incident continues…. there is a possibility that the impacted customer data may be used by the unauthorized party,” it said.

Shoprite is Africa’s largest chain retailer with 2,933 stores as of February this year. Its brands include Shoprite, Usave, LiquorShop, Checkers, Checkers Hyper and House & Home. The retailer’s financial performance is strong with its operating profit increasing by 19% to 9.7 billion rand ($681 millions) in the fiscal year ended July 4.