Industry Insight

The wave of cyberattacks on UK retailers has highlighted just how much damage these incidents can cause. An attack on Marks & Spencer in April forced the retailer to suspend online orders for almost seven weeks. An attack on Co-op saw customer data stolen and shelves left bare. Parag Jain, Executive Vice President Manufacuring & Consumer Services, Chief Growth Officer at Zensar Technologies, explores the threats which retailers face and what solutions are on offer.

he impact of the recent wave of cyberattacks on

Empty shelves were reported at Co-op stores nationwide, some of which were only able to accept cash payments in the initial aftermath of a cyberattack against the retailer’ s IT systems.

Just days previously, Marks & Spencer was forced to suspend online orders as it reacted to a cyberattack, which like Co-op, resulted in empty shelves in stores. It was reported that the immediate aftermath of the attack cost Marks & Spencer millions of pounds a day due to lost sales.

The luxury department store, Harrods, was also hit by a cyberattack during the same period.

Speaking at the CyberUK conference in Manchester, just days after the attacks, government minister, Pat McFadden, said they should serve as a wake-up call for businesses‘ that cybersecurity is not a luxury but an absolute necessity’.

This is especially true for retailers, which as recent events have made clear, are particularly reliant on systems being fully operational to provide customers with fresh food and other essential everyday items.

The threats

Cybercriminals know this, which is why ransomware gangs prey on high transaction environments like retail; they know that uptime is crucial – and that if the critical systems are down because they’ ve been encrypted with ransomware, a retailer can lose millions a day in lost transactions. www. intelligentretail. tech 35