M&S cyber attack: Can hacked firms regain our trust?

Financial cost of data breach is tip of iceberg for retailing giant

- Author Kokho Jason Sit

The cyber attack on M&S is estimated to have wiped millions off its balance sheet - and potentially much more from its reputation, writes marketing expert Kokho Jason Sit.

Several big British retailers have been in the news recently - but not for buoyant sales or new product launches.

Firms like Marks & Spencer and Co-op have been hacked, affecting online sales and the range of products available in-store, and forcing them to apologise to customers and other stakeholders.

M&S, a legacy retailer that has more than 1,000 stores across the UK, appears to have suffered the most significant damage from its cyber attack, which began over the Easter bank holiday weekend.

As a precaution, the retailer was reported to have shut down many IT operations, effectively locking itself out of its core systems as it tried to address the incident.

And then the situation worsened. M&S acknowledged that the personal data of customers, including names, dates of birth, telephone numbers, home and email addresses, and online order histories, had been stolen. However, the retailer insisted that the data theft did not include usable card, payment or login information.