M&S cyber-attack linked to hacking group Scattered Spider

A major cyber-attack on Marks & Spencer has been linked to a hacking collective known as Scattered Spider, which is previously thought to have hit MGM Resorts and the US casino operator Caesars.The group, which has previously been found to include people in their 20s from the UK and the US – some of whom faced charges over attempts to steal cryptocurrency via phishing attacks in the US – are reported to have encrypted key M&S systems using ransomware, according to the technology specialist site BleepingComputer.The reports emerged as online sales at M&S – which account for an average £3.8m a day – were suspended for a fifth day.The disruption caused by the hack – and uncertainty over when it will end – has wiped more than £500m off the stock market value of M&S in the past week as experts said it had clearly suffered a cyber-attack on a huge scale

Amazon denies planning to publish tariff costs on main site, as White House blasts ‘hostile and political’ act – as it happened

Heads-up: Amazon is denying that it planned to display tariff costs on its main website, reports Jeff Stein of The Washington Post.The retailer is saying that its Amazon Haul store, which sells low-cost items had considered listing import charges on “certain products”.“Nothing has been implemented on any Amazon properties,” the company added, shortly after the White House accused it of a ‘hostile and political’ act (see earlier post).New — Amazon Spox now saying this was never under consideration for the main Amazon website. Says Amazon Haul has considered listing import price duties on certain products https://t

Elon Musk’s Doge conflicts of interest worth $2.37bn, Senate report says

Elon Musk and his companies face at least $2.37bn in legal exposure from federal investigations, litigation and regulatory oversight, according to a new report from Senate Democrats. The report attempts to put a number to Musk’s many conflicts of interest through his work with his so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge), warning that he may seek to use his influence to avoid legal liability.The report, which was published on Monday by Democratic members of the Senate homeland security committee’s permanent subcommittee on investigations, looked at 65 actual or potential actions against Musk across 11 separate agencies. Investigators calculated the financial liabilities Musk and his companies, such as Tesla, SpaceX and Neuralink, may face in 45 of those actions

Self-service tills: a bleeping pain or brilliant? | Letters

Thank you, Hilary Freeman, for catching and coining the central movement which is sickening us all: “the slow erosion of human contact that heralds the dehumanisation of yet another society” (Hell is not other people – it’s being stuck in the ninth circle of an automated telephone service, 22 April).We need it, we will die without it. For Freeman, it comes with the introduction of ATMs to Tuvalu; for me, it’s the self-checkout tills of the Co-op around the corner. I used to chat to Brenda. I can’t do it now, and something dies inside me

Stick or twist? England’s selectors weigh up options for Zimbabwe Test

If Zak Crawley’s form is a worry the middle-order is not, but Ben Stokes’s role as an all-rounder remains unknownIt may be viewed as an amuse-bouche before the main course of India in June, but England’s one-off Test against Zimbabwe is fast approaching. Selection is imminent – for the four-day match Trent Bridge that gets under way on 22 May and a training camp in Loughborough that precedes it – and after four rounds of the County Championship, the contenders are beginning to take shape.Had the New Zealand series before Christmas been five Tests, there is every chance Zak Crawley would have been compassionately hooked before its conclusion, such was his ordeal at the hands of Matt Henry. But England may well point to Crawley’s average of 46.6 in his most recent outings against India and Australia as reason to persist

Saints’ Phil Dowson fears Premiership clubs ‘sleepwalking’ towards financial crisis

The Northampton director of rugby, Phil Dowson, fears the sport is “sleepwalking” towards another club going bust and endorsed plans for the Premiership to become a franchised league on the basis it would be more appealing to investors.Premiership and Rugby Football Union executives have drawn up plans for an “expansion” league, akin to a franchise model, that would allow for teams to be added to the current 10 top flight clubs should they meet certain criteria. The RFU chief executive, Bill Sweeney, revealed that there is the possibility of expanding for the start of next season.Relegation would be officially done away with, however. No side has been demoted since Saracens had it forced upon them for salary cap breaches in 2020 and though there was the potential for a playoff between the side who finished bottom of the Premiership and top of the Championship this summer, only Doncaster met the necessary criteria and they are out of the second tier title race