Unusual activity on tech systems over the Easter weekend was the first sign of a sustained cyber-attack on Marks & Spencer, which is costing the retailer millions of pounds a day.
The group, the UK’s biggest clothing retailer which accounts for a third of underwear sales alongside food and homewares, has now been forced to stop taking online orders for more than a week – with little hope of rebooting them in the short term. Stores are struggling to keep shelves full with automated stock systems offline and at one point this week staff were manually checking fridge temperatures owing to concerns about digital monitoring systems.
