The management of METRO AG is currently confirming a partial failure of its IT infrastructure and thus also an already suspected cyber attack on the wholesaler. There are said to be offline systems for payment processing in the stores, since the cash register systems are also affected by the attack.
There have been rumors for days that the immense IT disruptions at the wholesaler METRO were triggered by a cyber attack and are not a normal IT problem. METRO has now confirmed this general assumption with a statement on its website. Accordingly, all core systems are affected, which apparently affects all other systems, such as cash registers, billing, digital price tags and even the online portal and ordering system.
Cyber attack paralyzes METRO
For days, buyers have been complaining on the Internet that they had long waiting times at the checkout and that it also took a long time to pay. There were also repeated complaints about strange prices and missing prices for advertised offers. It is now clear why this was the case, because the price tags, so-called Electronic Shelf Labels – ESL – are also attached to the digital merchandise management system and are adjusted centrally.
Clear information to the outside
It is to be welcomed that Metro is dealing openly with the attack and informing customers. Secrecy, like that of the baby food manufacturer HIPP a few weeks ago, is not a good idea. METRO has relatively detailed information on its website and probably wants to provide more information at this point: “At METRO, there is currently a partial failure of the IT infrastructure in several technical services. METRO's IT team, together with external experts, immediately launched a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the service disruption. The latest results of the analysis confirm a cyber attack on the METRO systems as the cause of the failure of the IT infrastructure. METRO AG has informed all relevant authorities about the incident and will of course cooperate with them in every possible way...."
Like many other companies, METRO may have been hit by malware this year. However, there is currently no concrete statement on this. There is currently no indication whether it is ransomware and whether there is a ransom demand. This attack adds another entry to the list of attacked companies. Before that, it already had companies of a similar size as Knauf building materials, Hygiene article manufacturer CWS and Medicare and Electronics manufacturer Semikron met. Also the IHK once had to report the loss of their website. All companies have had problems with their systems for a long time. But everyone communicated the attack openly and informed their customers.
More at METRO.de