Not just any cyber attack - this is a Marks and Spencer cyber attack.
Marks and Spencer’s advertising tagline is coming back to haunt them during a cyber attack that has wiped £1bn off the supermarket’s value.
The empty shelves in Marks and Spencer and Co Op stores reminds me of the early Covid days when the shelves were stripped by panic buying. This time around, it’s cyber attacks disrupting supply chains. Both UK supermarkets have been hit by cyber attacks, though the impact on each of these stores has been different as a result of their actions. The Co Op reportedly ‘pulled the plug’ on their networks as soon as the attack was discovered - a fact admitted by the criminal group responsible. This seems to have prevented the attackers locking down Co Op systems and avoided it turning into a full-blown ransomware crisis.
Marks and Spencer, on the other hand, appear to have been slower to respond and were not able to disconnect their networks before the ransomware hit. According the the UK’s Times, the cyber attack is going to cost them £300m and their share price has fallen 10%.
The ransomware attack has knocked out online ordering, severely disrupted supply chains and led to suppliers’ goods being turned away, presumably as the distribution centres had no way of processing and redistributing the goods to stores. Recent work by Crisis Solutions with a logistics client revealed something I didn’t know - many forklift trucks won’t work without network computing as the controls are biometrically encoded to ensure that untrained operatives are not in the seat.
Still it’s not all bad. The situation has forced Marks and Spencer to develop apps to enable staff to communicate with distribution centres outside of its IT system. This is a burning topic at Crisis Solutions as many of our clients are examining possible workarounds now, before an attack happens. We have helped them develop some simple workarounds that will massively reduce the impact of a ransomware attack.
No matter how hard you try and prevent them, cyber attacks can still happen.
The ability to disconnect networks from the outside world quickly is critical.
Workarounds need to be in place now - not after an attack.