ransomhouse attacks SHOPRITE HOLDINGS LTD

Incident Date:

June 14, 2022

World map

Overview

Title

ransomhouse attacks SHOPRITE HOLDINGS LTD

Victim

SHOPRITE HOLDINGS LTD

Attacker

Ransomhouse

Location

Brackenfell, South Africa

Cape town, South Africa

First Reported

June 14, 2022

Shoprite Holdings Ltd Suffers Ransomware Attack by RansomHouse Group

Shoprite Holdings Ltd, a prominent supermarket chain in southern Africa, has recently fallen victim to a ransomware attack orchestrated by the RansomHouse group. This cybercriminal entity has publicly taken responsibility for the breach on their platform. With a vast network spanning multiple African countries, Shoprite operates 2,943 stores and provides employment to over 149,000 individuals.

Impact of the Attack

The cyber assault led to a suspected compromise of specific data subsets, potentially affecting customers involved in money transfers across Eswatini, Namibia, and Zambia. In response to this breach, Shoprite has engaged with South Africa's Information Regulator and has issued warnings to the impacted customers, urging them to remain cautious of unsolicited communications and to promptly change their account passwords.

RansomHouse, notorious for its extortion practices, threatens to monetize stolen data unless their demands are met. This group's portfolio of victims includes notable entities such as the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority and a US-based credit union, showcasing their broad target spectrum.

Shoprite's Response and Preventative Measures

While Shoprite Holdings Ltd has not reported any operational disruptions following the attack, the potential for the misappropriation of stolen data by unauthorized parties remains a significant concern. In an effort to fortify its cybersecurity posture, the company has introduced enhanced security protocols. These include revisions to authentication processes and the strengthening of fraud prevention and detection mechanisms.

This incident underscores the critical importance of robust cybersecurity defenses for organizations, highlighting the need to safeguard sensitive data against emerging cyber threats.

Sources

Recent Ransomware Attacks

The Recent Ransomware Attacks (RRA) site acts as a watchtower, providing you with near real-time ransomware tracking of attacks, groups and their victims. Given threat actors’ overarching, lucrative success so far, ransomware attacks have become the most ubiquitous, and financially and informationally impactful cyber threat to businesses and organizations today.

The site’s data is generated based on hosting choices of real-world threat actors, and a handful of other trackers. While sanitization efforts have been taken, we cannot guarantee 100% accuracy of the data. Attack updates will be made as source data is reported by reputable sources. By viewing, accessing, or using RRA you acknowledge you are doing so at your own risk.