Reports that H&M was the target of a potential cyberattack were initially published by The Times. According to the newspaper, the cybercriminal group ShinyHunters was behind the attack. The news caused H&M’s share price to fall temporarily on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.
H&M has now investigated the claims and denies that any intrusion occurred, as reported by Nyhetsbyrån Direkt. In a statement to the industry publication TheIndustry.fashion, a spokesperson for H&M Group also stated that an internal investigation found no evidence that data or systems had been compromised.
We have no indication that we have had any intrusion. That is not true as far as we can see right now.
This was stated by Anna Frosch Nordin at H&M’s communications department, who also confirms that the company’s IT department has investigated the matter globally.
Growing Threat Landscape for Retail
The reports about H&M come at a time when the retail and e-commerce sector is being pressured by a growing wave of cyberattacks. Security experts point out that retail has become an attractive target for cybercriminals, partly due to large customer databases and complex cloud environments.
This development is also driven by new technology. Access to increasingly powerful AI models has made it easier and faster for attackers to automate vulnerability analysis and produce accurate phishing attacks.
As recently as last week, the British fashion giant Asos was hit by a notorious data breach in which personal data of millions of customers was leaked. The e-commerce sector has also been hit hard on the home front. In September, Ehandel.se reported how source code and data from Dustin were published online after a ransomware attack.