April 25, 2025 – London: Marks & Spencer, a prominent British multinational retailer known for selling high-quality clothing, food items, and home products, halted online orders in the United Kingdom and Ireland following a cyberattack reported earlier in the week. This proactive measure is a part of the company’s incident management strategy.
The cyberattack led to a drop in M&S’s share price, which fell by around 5%. It disrupted various services, including contactless payments and the click-and-collect system. This has prompted the company to stop taking online orders.
M&S has apologized to its customers for the inconvenience and assured them that its stores will remain open. The company stated, “Our dedicated team, along with top cybersecurity experts, is working tirelessly to restore online and app shopping services.”
About 1/3rd of M&S’s clothing and home sales are online. Thus, the decision to stop online orders will negatively impact the company’s revenue. It will also lead to a loss of convenience for customers.
These cyberattacks underscore the vulnerabilities in retail operations as well as the need for robust cybersecurity measures. Their increasing number will create lucrative growth avenues for the cyber security industry. According to Coherent Market Insights (CMI), the global cyber security market is poised to exhibit a CAGR of 12.5%, totaling US$ 631.30 billion by 2032.
"Marks & Spencer’s decision to halt online orders following a cyberattack highlights the growing vulnerability of retailers in today’s digital landscape. Rising incidence of such cyberattacks will likely encourage adoption of cyber security solutions in the retail sector during the forthcoming period,” says a senior analyst at CMI.
Demand for advanced cyber security solutions is set to increase rapidly courtesy of increased risks in the retail sector. Companies like M&S will need to adopt advanced cybersecurity measures, creating lucrative opportunities for cybersecurity providers.
Amid growing threat of cyberattacks, businesses are prioritizing investments in novel security solutions and services. As a result, sales in the global cyber security market are expected to rise rapidly in the coming years, making it a highly lucrative business.
The future of cyber security industry looks bright as retailers adopt online shopping models and cyber threats become more sophisticated. Businesses that invest in advanced security will be better positioned to protect their critical infrastructure and operations from cyberattacks.
Top vendors will need to develop innovative security solutions like anomaly detection, network segmentation, and vulnerability management for business environments. These new capabilities aim to take cyber security to the next level.
Sources:
News Outlet: Reuters