Data stolen in Naivas Supermarket attack

By Peter Ochieng

Naivas Supermarket on Sunday evening confirmed loss of data in a ransomware attack by an online organization, by name The Actor.

In a statement signed by Willy Kimani, Chief Commercial Officer, the company said the intrusion may have compromised some of its data, but the attack was contained.

“Naivas has contained this attack and our systems are secure and our operations are normal,” said Kimani.

“On becoming aware of the attack, Naivas took immediate steps to prevent external access and engaged leading cyber security experts Crowd Strike to ensure system integrity. This process is complete and our systems are secure. We are cooperating with the relevant law enforcement agencies as they investigate this and the many current ransomware attacks in Kenya.”

Kimani assured customers that their credit/debit card information is safe.

"Naivas would like to confirm that we do not hold any credit card/debit card information on our systems, and that such payment information is handled securely and protected through Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption.”

The company urged its customers to be extra vigilant, to avoid being conned through phone, SMS or email interactions.

“At this moment, we are not aware of any malicious use of stolen data. However, it is recommended in the face of this type of situation to pay particular attention to any phishing attempts by phone, SMS or email as well as to the sufficient security of passwards."

The Supermarket runs a series of braches in various parts of the country, among them Nairobi, Thika, Mombasa, Kisumu, Embu, Eldoret, Machakos, Nyeri, Naivasha, Kisii, Nakuru, Kericho, Narok, Bungoma and Kitui.