Help from ex-Mossad agents
Why Lidl is buying an Israeli secret service force
Lidl relies on more cybersecurity
© Steve Parsons / empics / Picture Alliance
Lidl and Kaufland are arming themselves in the fight against hackers. The Schwarz Group buys the IT security company of a former Mossad boss for hundreds of millions of euros. Recently there have been some spectacular cyberattacks on retail chains.
Hacker attacks are an increasing problem for companies. Not only that the number of cyber attacks in this country has recently increased significantly. The attackers are increasingly demanding high ransom money, as a study by the Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony recently showed.
The grocers Lidl and Kaufland are now arming themselves powerfully in the fight against this threat. The Schwarz Group, to which the two retail chains belong, is taking over the Israeli IT security company XM Cyber for a lot of money. According to the Handelsblatt, the purchase price will be 700 million dollars (620 million euros). The food newspaper speaks of a slightly lower price, since Schwarz does not take over all the shares of the Israelis, but only secures the majority. Schwarz himself did not mention any numbers.
Israeli intelligence background
The security company XM Cyber is just five years old, but is run by prominent figures. The bosses are formerly high-ranking members of the Israeli foreign intelligence service Mossad. Co-founder Tamir Pardo even led the secret service as director between 2010 and 2015. Now the ex-Mossad agents are supposed to protect Lidl and Kaufland.
“The XM Cyber team with a deep technical understanding and innovative strength optimally complements our portfolio for IT security”, says Christian Müller, CEO of Schwarz IT in a press release. “The approach of finding ways into the company and closing them from the attacker’s point of view is a future-oriented, additional component with which we protect our customers, partners and ourselves as a company.” In this context, the Neckarsulm-based company also points to the growing importance of its digital business models such as online shopping and loyalty programs.
The Israeli new acquisition specializes in looking for gaps in IT systems and for this purpose constantly simulates cyber attacks itself. XM Cyber will continue to independently provide its services to other customers around the world, emphasized the Schwarz Group in a press release.
Serious hacker attacks are increasing
Large retail chains have recently repeatedly fallen victim to hacker attacks. At the beginning of November, for example, the electronics retailer Media Markt-Saturn had to contend with an unprecedented cyber attack. The attackers hijacked the IT systems, froze loads of data and demanded a 50 million dollar ransom. Some customer services were paralyzed for days.
The supermarket chain Coop even had to temporarily close all 800 shops in Sweden in July because hackers blocked the till systems. And the supermarket chain Tegut was also hit by a cyber attack in the spring. First Tegut had to switch off its IT networks, which is why some goods in the stores were temporarily unavailable. Then the attackers published sensitive data on the Darknet in order to extort a ransom.
Sources: Black group / XM Cyber / Handelsblatt / Food newspaper / Criminological Research Institute Lower Saxony