Retail giant M&S takes systems offline to deal with cyber incident

British multinational retailer Marks & Spencer said the data security incident it suffered recently forced it to take several systems offline to minimise impact on operations.

 

On April 22, M&S said in a filing with the London Stock Exchange that it had been dealing with a cyber security incident. Immediately after identifying the incident, the global retailer launched an investigation, with assistance from external cyber security experts, to determine the nature and scope of the same.

 

“It was necessary to make some minor, temporary changes to our store operations to protect customers and the business and we are sorry for any inconvenience experienced. Importantly, our stores remain open and our website and app are operating as normal,” reads the notice.

 

While M&S stores, its website, and its app remained operational, the cyber attack affected its daily operations, including the Click and Collect order system because of which customers were asked to wait for an email confirming their order is ready for pick up before visiting the store.

 

In a recent update, M&S said it has taken some necessary changes and taken several systems offline in order to protect its employees, partners, customers and the business.

 

“Our stores remain open and customers can continue to shop on our website and our app. However, we are not currently processing contactless payments, we have paused the collection of Click & Collect orders in stores, and there may be some delay to online order delivery times,” M&S said in its update.

 

While M&S is still in the process of recovering from the cyber security incident, it has assured its customers and business partners that it will provide timely updates as and when available.

 

“We are incredibly grateful for the understanding and support that our customers, colleagues, partners and suppliers have shown. We are working hard to restore our services and minimise disruption and are being supported by industry-leading experts,” the company added.