Co-op has encouraged staff to keep their cameras on during virtual work meetings as the business deals with an ongoing cyberattack.

The retailer sent an email to its employees this week asking them to be vigilant as its IT teams work to protect their systems.

Co-op also informed staff not to record or transcribe calls, or post any sensitive information into Teams chats, the BBC reported.

The convenience store confirmed on Wednesday (30 April) that it had to shut down parts of its IT systems in response to hackers trying to gain access to its systems over the weekend.

Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free

Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning

Co-op reported the challenges were still ongoing but that there was no impact to any of its stores or funeral homes.

A spokesperson for Co-op said: “We have recently experienced attempts to gain unauthorised access to some of our systems.

“As a result, we have taken proactive steps to keep our systems safe, which has resulted in a small impact to some of our back office and call centre services.”

It comes as M&S continues to deal with the fallout of a ransomware attack from hacking group Scattered Spider over the Easter Bank holiday.

The retailer has reported supply issues across its stores. It was forced to pause all online orders last week as part of its “proactive management” of the incident.