Expert Column
SPEED OVER PERFECTION: THE HIGH COST OF CYBERSECURITY HESITATION
By Ben Leitch, our CXO CyberConnections and Digital Content Manager
arks & Spencer( M & S) have announced it is finally set m to be over the worst of the fallout from the crippling cyberattack by August 2025... two months after The Co-operative Group( Co-op) announced it was back to normality from the same attack.
The vital importance of acting quickly during cybersecurity crises cannot be overstated, as perfectly exemplified by the differing actions of the two UK supermarket giants afflicted by April’ s brutal cyberattack.
In late April 2025, attackers from the Scattered Spider group breached M & S, encrypting systems with ransomware and compromising personal data, and soon after breached Co-op, stealing customer credentials and executing the data exfiltration of millions of shoppers.
Both retailers saw vast disruption to their in-store and online operations, with empty shelves, food waste, contactless payment failures and online orders collapsing. M & S have reported up to £ 300 million in profit loss, while it is still unknown the exact amount Co-op suffered due to the breach.
As of June 2025, Co-op was fully operational and resuming regular service, while M & S was still facing food shortages, compromised systems and no online services.
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THE LESSON TO TAKE AWAY HERE IS THAT HESITATION CAN COST YOU MILLIONS. IN MATTERS OF CYBERSECURITY, SPEED IS OF THE ESSENCE.
Ben Leitch
Despite quadrupling their investment in cybersecurity in the last 12 months, M & S have been drastically more affected by the attacks in comparison to Co-op. Why? Because they hesitated.
Within moments of noticing the breach, Co-op shut down its entire online system without hesitation. They understood that although it would mean immediate disruption to customers, sales and logistics, it would prevent any further infliction.
And they were right. Unlike M & S, Coop’ s servers were never affected by any ransomware. Those behind the attacks expressed their anger toward Co-op’ s quick actions saying,“ They yanked their own plug – tanking sales and torching shareholder value.”
Acting quickly and making the brave decision to completely shut down their systems saved Co-op from months of revenue loss and customer dissatisfaction. While M & S were debating how best to manage the cyberattack, Co-op had the initiative to take the hit, and it paid off.
The lesson to take away here is that hesitation can cost you millions. In matters of cybersecurity, speed is of the essence. While it is of course vital to have preventative cybersecurity measures in place, acting swiftly and efficiently when they fail will save your company both money and reputation.
18 www. intelligentretail. tech