Cyber correspondent, BBC World Service<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Four people have been arrested by police investigating the cyber-attacks that have caused havoc at M&S and the Co-op.<\/p>\n The National Crime Agency (NCA) says a 20-year-old woman was arrested in Staffordshire, and three males – aged between 17 and 19 – were detained in London and the West Midlands.<\/p>\n They were apprehended on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences, blackmail, money laundering and participating in the activities of an organised crime group.<\/p>\n All four were arrested at their homes in the early hours of Thursday. Electronic devices were also seized by the police.<\/p>\n One of the suspects – a 19-year-old man – is from Latvia, the rest are from the UK.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Neighbours described a large police operation in the quiet Staffordshire cul-de-sac where the 20-year-old was arrested.<\/p>\n They said dozens of NCA officers, some wearing balaclavas, arrived in the early hours of this morning and smashed down the door of a family home. Later they were seen taking away a large number of electronic devices.<\/p>\n Paul Foster, head of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, said the arrests were a “significant step” in its investigation.<\/p>\n “But our work continues, alongside partners in the UK and overseas, to ensure those responsible are identified and brought to justice,” he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The hacks – which began in mid April – have caused huge disruption for the two retailers. <\/p>\n Some Co-op shelves were left bare for weeks, while M&S expects its operations to be affected until late July, with some IT systems not fully operational until October or November.<\/p>\n The chairman of M&S told MPs this week that it felt like the hack was an attempt to destroy the business<\/a>. The retailer has estimated it will cost it \u00a3300m in lost profits.<\/p>\n Harrods was also targeted in an attack that had less impact on its operations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n M&S was the first to be breached. A huge amount of private data belonging to customers and staff was stolen. <\/p>\n The criminals also deployed malicious software called ransomware scrambling the company’s IT networks making them unusable unless a ransom was paid. <\/p>\n The BBC revealed that the hackers had sent an offensive email<\/a> to the M&S boss demanding payment. <\/p>\n A few days after M&S was breached the Co-op was also targeted by criminals who broke in and stole the private data of millions of its customers and staff. <\/p>\n![\"Alamy](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/4ec9\/live\/6bd69a00-5d92-11f0-9297-dd87eb704fa9.jpg.webp\")
Alamy<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20250701-150711-e3d94715db-web-2.24.1-1\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\nA wave of attacks<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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