Why retail is increasingly targeted by cybercriminals

Cyber attacks on major retailers like MediaMarkt, Casa International and Metro made headlines last year, and that is no coincidence: in 2022, retail was the fifth most targeted industry by cybercriminals.

Attractive to hackers

Late 2021, electronics chain MediaMarkt was the victim of an international cyber hostage crisis, which among other things forced the disconnection of cash register systems in shops. Hackers demanded a ransom of more than forty million euros. Last summer, Casa International’s IT systems were encrypted and certain personal data were leaked. A large-scale cyber-attack on Metro last autumn caused IT problems that dragged on for weeks, causing the cash register systems and electronic price labels to fail. This also severely hampered the clearance sale at bankrupt Belgian subsidiary Makro.