Will Marks and Spencer survive?

[MerryPortas]

It’s hard to imagine the full scale of the cyber attack and the impact on their business.

yes, annoying for the shoppers, but they must be losing millions in daily revenue online, and I doubt that’s being backfilled by increased physical footfall.

stock levels are unpredictable - understandably - so confidence is low.

shoppers are creatures of habit, and change is habit forming.

So my question is, do you think M and S is at risk?

Like a PP I’m 5’11”, and lanky. The only clothes I’ve ever been able to fit from M&S are knickers. Even their women’s socks come up small on me (my feet are 7.5 so hardly outrageous these days). What M&S laughably calls “long” doesn’t reach my ankles.

Socks are my bugbear in lots of stores. I'm an 8. 4-7 seems to be the default. Mainly I buy mens or CK bamboo socks in TKMaxx, but I wouldn't mind the occasional cute pair!

Yes.

You don't have to shop there to know it's overrated, overpriced, and outdated.

Have this back >>> 😂

As a short person, albeit not stout, you are talking out of your rear end.

It’s shocking that they haven’t the ability to deal with it. It’s what we do, cyber security. While you can’t always prevent attacks, recovery should have been simple. At most they might have been out a few days. The smaller companies we work for would have been up and running in hours. Their IT department should be sacked

They must be. I’ve always relied on their click and collect for uniforms and kids socks etc. this has forced me to go elsewhere and the discovery - cheaper and better quality out there.

I might return for some things but as a very loyal customer who spends thousands per year there’s a lot of business from that won’t be headed back their way. And I doubt I’m the only one.

That’s incredibly short sighted and over simplistic.

Well not at all. It’s what we do. Been building and protecting software systems for twenty years. It’s not simplistic at all. They should have recovered from it quickly. They didn’t because they haven’t the right systems in place. These people doing this are criminals but they aren’t experts any more than my dh who works to protect businesses. He’d be ashamed if he worked for m and s

You’d be amazed how many businesses still use Windows Xp behind the scenes. Even the NHS still uses it for some systems.

Do you mean you work in the same building as a cyber security firm? If you were genuinely working in cyber security, you really would not make this kind of comment. Salaries and rates would drop down hugely if it was such a simple thing for a start...

No, not at risk if our Simply Food is anything to go by. It’s well stocked, apart from a few things, and as busy as ever.

The attack is unforgivable though for such a large company. Their IT department must be very well resourced but clearly has weak leadership.

Again, over simplified.

These people doing this are criminals but they aren’t experts any more than my dh who works to protect businesses.

oh ok, your HUSBAND works in the field, so you are a specialist. Got you.😂

Seamond · Today 09:14
What a thick comment!

I believe they have insurance cover up to 100 Million, and the damage will probably exceed that significantly.

However as the "incident" apparently was caused by human sharing a password with a fake user, they may have some challenges with the claim...

Generally people don't care about security or privacy until it's directly impacted them or their business.

£100 million insurance cap apparently, which they have already breached according to The Times this morning.

I use their online ordering a lot for basics like school uniform/ tights etc as I can order and pick up in my local Food Store next day and do returns easily there as well. I can't remember the last time I actually went to a physical store for something that wasn't food.

M&S 'had no plan' for cyber attacks, insider claims, with 'staff left sleeping in the office amid paranoia and chaos' | UK News | Sky News

Whilst the source of this article may not have full insight, it does suggest that the response and BC plans were not fit for purpose - hence the time taken to recover.

Are you a cyber security expert by any chance? Do you even understand cyber security at all? It's not about not investing enough in IT. I'm sure they do, you can't always predict new forms of attack, even the best organisation including governments know this and are vulnerable.

It’s been widely known that they were vulnerable due to old systems. It’s unacceptable.

I reckon it was one of their competitors 👀

It’s extremely worrying for all of us , we all have to do so much online where could the next attack be .

I haven’t noticed a difference in my local M&S food store. Their brand is powerful and I find the quality of a lot of their food produce is just far superior to everywhere else. So I will still shop there.

How would that explain away the other stores/businesses that have been hit though?

Sorry, this is bollocks, I’m 5’10 and buy a lot from there.

They have my sympathies, I hope they don’t go under. Their click and collect works brilliantly for me.

I buy somethings from there at 5’9”. Never tops as the tops are always too short

I can no longer log in to my m&s account. I tried to reset my password and got an email to say there’s no account associated with this email! I’ve refunds outstanding and now my account seems to be lost