Marks & Spencer (M&S) is on a roll! As of this week, they have officially restarted their click and collect service after the cyber attack which brought down operations earlier this year. After a ransomware attack in April, the company was forced to suspend online ordering and in-store order collection services. In turn, shelves turned barren and patients lost loyalty and trust.
On April 25, M&S suspended online orders through its website and mobile app for clothing and home delivery. This decision applied to its nationwide in-store collection service, which was shuttered on the same day. The cyber attack completely shut down all of M&S’ operations. This caused widespread empty store shelves, and the efforts to restock were complicated by the breach.
The company was able to relaunch their e-commerce on June 10. Yet it then took 15 more weeks to restart the widely used click and collect service. The grocer wrote on its corporate site that shoppers can now again access the click and collect M&S service. Changing this practice is a big step towards restoring some normalcy to their work.
The cyber attack impacted M&S’ ability to deliver services, and some customer data was stolen from the company’s systems. Following this infringement, M&S called on their customers to remain vigilant. Consumers need to be alert to unusual emails, calls, or texts appearing to come from the retailer. The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) recently identified a cyber-criminal collective known as Scattered Spider. This new coalition has acted as an important force in prosecuting the monumental attack that began in May.
In July, police arrested four people in connection with the coordinated cyber attacks that hit both M&S and Co-op. Yet, all four of them were soon released on bail awaiting further investigation. According to M&S’ chief executive, Stuart Machin, the firm has now calmed the “imperilled investors” with his confident assurances of the company’s recovery. He boasted that they would have surmounted the worst of the fallout by August.
That crisis exposed the fragility of large retail enterprises and ignited a firestorm of concern over the need for companies to implement cybersecurity safeguards. M&S suffered immense pressures from the breach, which highlighted the importance of strong protections against cyber attacks.