British supermarket giant Co-op has temporarily shut down portions of its IT infrastructure after detecting unauthorized access attempts to its network. The defensive measure has impacted back office operations and call center services, though the company has not confirmed whether the intrusion attempts were successful.

“We have recently experienced attempts to gain unauthorized access to some of our systems,” a Co-op spokesperson stated. “As a result, we have taken proactive steps to keep our systems safe, which has resulted in a small impact on some of our back office and call center services.”

Despite the disruption, Co-op’s retail stores, quick commerce operations, and funeral homes continue to function normally. The supermarket chain, which operates over 3,700 branches across the UK with annual revenue approaching $10 billion, serves as a consumer-owned cooperative with more than 6.2 million members. Through its wholesale division, Co-op also supplies products to over 5,100 additional outlets.

The nature of the attack remains undisclosed, and no threat actors have claimed responsibility.

This incident follows a recent cyberattack on another major British retailer, Marks & Spencer (M&S), which was forced to suspend online orders after the “Scattered Spider” threat group deployed DragonForce ransomware on its systems. The attack is expected to impact M&S’s financial performance.

The incidents highlight an increasing trend of cyber threats targeting UK retail operations.