A massive cyberattack affects M&S’ digital operations as one analyst speaking to the BBC says it will create a “bruise” to their reputation. As one of the most recognisable brands on the high-street, capitalising on online demand is a big earner for the business and the direction consumer buyer behaviour is heading. This apparent security breach, following other IT outages for Barclays and Lloyds, could compromise trust and data safety concerning M&S’ payments and digital systems.
The CEO announced the big retailer was investigating why systems were down and stressed the problems would only be temporary as they work towards fixing a solution. This does mean thousands of refunds will be issued after pausing online orders in UK & Ireland on Friday. Click-and-collect orders and contactless payments were halted with customers reporting the issues, however, M&S says payments are now resumed.
The disruption in the last week has had a knock-on effect on 200 shifts being cancelled for workers. A real fear for retailers in the digital age has come true, as whilst digital operations are down, M&S cannot capitalise on its online sales nor purchases made in-store via contactless payments.
M&S stands to lose out with critics and customers also watching to see how quickly they can recover from this attack.
As recent incidents show, cyber attacks are extremely common with the sophisticated techniques available to attackers, and businesses and individuals are tackling the problem.
M&S brand’s image is very respected, and customers will expect complete trust and privacy over their data despite this incident.
Kate Hardcastle, consumer specialist at Insight with Passion, commented to the BBC that M&S has responded quickly and been transparent from the onset of these troubles, which should mitigate any long-term damage to their image. A third of its clothing and household item sales are generated from e-commerce. On Tuesday, M&S admitted they were tackling a “major” cyber incident. Some customers have protested that communication was still too slow.
They reported the incident themselves to the Information Commissioner’s Office and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), who will “assess the information provided”.
A statement by M&S read: “We have made the proactive decision to move some of our processes offline to protect our colleagues, partners, suppliers and our business”.
