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Hackers are more excited for Black Friday than UK shoppers — but not for the same reasons

Some hunt for bargains, and others for sensitive customer data, new report warns.

techradar.com ·

Hackers are more excited for Black Friday than UK shoppers — but not for the same reasons

As Black Friday and Christmas approach, UK retailers face a significant increase in cyberattacks, SonicWall warns. This surge in attempted breaches is 169% higher than the previous year, with 23.3 million high- and medium-priority intrusion attempts recorded between January and September 2026. Most of these attacks target web applications, using techniques like directory traversal, remote code execution, and cross-site scripting.

Intrusion attempts are up year-over-year, with the peak trading quarter accounting for approximately half of the entire year's attack volume. The most common method, directory traversal, accounted for 10.5 million attempts, aiming to access sensitive data such as configuration files and stored records. However, attackers are employing more advanced techniques as well, with React Server Components remote code execution (RCE) and cross-site scripting also prevalent.

SonicWall's findings highlight the primary motivation behind these attacks: stealing customer data, which can then be used for phishing, fraud, and further cyberattacks. The company warns that a breach at an e-commerce site can serve as a precursor to subsequent attacks, such as wire fraud and social engineering, affecting both the breached organization and its customers.

Written by urgent.news from TechRadar's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.

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