Irish supermarket networks including Super Valu fall victim to cyberattack

10 Oct 2017

Super Valu is Ireland’s most popular supermarket. Image: Lisa S/Shutterstock

Musgrave confirmed today that it has been the subject of a cyberattack.

One of Ireland’s largest grocery companies, Musgrave, announced today (10 October) that its network has fallen victim to cybercrime. According to a statement, the attack has impacted the network and its Super Valu, Centra and Daybreak stores.

‘The protection of information is an absolute priority for Musgrave, with a range of security solutions including threat monitoring, antivirus software, firewall and penetration testing deployed. The company aims to ensure that security standards are maintained at the highest levels and apologises to its customers for this issue’
–MUSGRAVE 

Musgrave is now engaged in an ongoing investigation of the incident with An Garda Síochána and has notified the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner of the incident.

The company said it detected that malicious software was attempting to extract debit and credit card numbers and expiry dates, but not the cardholder name, PIN or CCV number. As of yet, there is no evidence that any data has been stolen.

Shoppers should review their bank statements

The company is advising any concerned shoppers to review activity on their statements as a precautionary measure. Breach response experts working with Musgrave have installed advanced technical fixes and continue to actively manage and monitor the situation.

The statement continued: “The protection of information is an absolute priority for Musgrave, with a range of security solutions including threat monitoring, antivirus software, firewall and penetration testing deployed. The company aims to ensure that security standards are maintained at the highest levels and apologises to its customers for this issue.”

A survey from Kantar released in September 2017 showed that Super Valu was where 221.pc of customers spent their cash in the 12 weeks previous to 10 September, with Tesco coming in second place. The survey monitored the grocery purchasing habits of 5,000 Irish households to reach its conclusion.

Ellen Tannam was a journalist with Silicon Republic, covering all manner of business and tech subjects

editorial@siliconrepublic.com