Security News > 2021 > December > Hundreds of SPAR stores shut down, switch to cash after cyberattack
Approximately 330 SPAR shops in North East England face severe operational problems following a weekend cyberattack, forcing many stores to close or switch to cash-only payments.
SPAR is an international supermarket franchise that operates 13,320 stores in 48 countries, but the recent security incident only affected stores in the northern part of England.
Unfortunately due to a total IT outage affecting all our stores we have had to remain closed all day Sunday with no time set to be back on line - our apologies for the massive inconvenience to all our customers and store teams.
"We are currently aware of an online attack on our IT systems. This has affected around 330 SPAR stores across the North of England over the past 24 hours, and we are working to resolve this situation as quickly as possible."
It is currently impacting stores' ability to process card payments meaning that a number of SPAR stores are currently closed to shoppers or only taking cash payments.
Today, the shop remains closed along with many other SPAR points in the region, indicating that whatever trouble the cyberattack caused remains unresolved.