M&S cyber attack latest as expert says it 'may take months' to return to normal

M&S customers hit by the ongoing cyber incident may be anxiously wondering when things will get back to normal. The high street giant has been grappling with the fallout from the reported cyber attack for over a week, leaving shoppers currently unable to place online orders.

The digital disruption has affected the store's supply chains, leading to empty shelves with signs reading: "Please bear with us while we fix some technical issues affecting product availability." CEO Stuart Machin said this morning that the firm is "really sorry" for the disruption.

Now Jason Gerrard, a senior director at cybersecurity firm , has warned that it can take quite some time for companies to get back to normal from these cyber attacks. And that could even take months, he said.

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He said: "On average, it takes 24 days, but some organisations don't reach business-as-usual for over 200 [more than six months]. The majority of this is due to poor preparation.

"Most companies don't understand what their 'Minimum Viable Company' (MVC) is – the core systems they need to prioritise in recovery. In fact, it is usually only at the point of attack that this is considered, at which point it's too late."

chief Stuart Machin reassured customers that his team is working "day and night" to sort out the issue, which kicked off over the Easter weekend. Aaron Bishop, the founder and CEO of , cautioned that any big brand could find itself in the same boat.

He said: "Nobody is exempt from experiencing service outages, it's how you react and respond that matters. Companies need to identify their business-critical functions needed to operate as well as the potential failure points in their systems, even when that risk is transferred to a third-party.

He also cautioned that resuming normal services could take some time, saying: "There are a lot of variables that come into how long a major issue may persist for: system architecture, complexity, failover deployment and migration, all the way down to general readiness. It might be that a temporary solution runs alongside the production solution over a long period of time until a natural migration point is made.

Colin Crow, a digital transformation expert at data management company , said that these large-scale service disruptions show the vulnerability of crucial sectors like finance and retail.

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He gave the example of a separate IT outage that hit Barclays for several days earlier this year. The tech expert said: "Sectors that rely on real-time transactions and customer-facing platforms, such as , banks and airlines, can be particularly exposed.

"There is a genuine risk that IT failures can trigger widespread disruption, particularly in the case of big-name banks and supermarkets with extensive clientele. A fault in one critical IT system can go on to cascade through retail, banking or logistics networks, delaying deliveries, halting transactions and frustrating customers."

He highlighted the complexity of resolving such issues, noting: "The duration and scale of disruption depend entirely on how resilient and up to date an organisation's IT infrastructure is – and how quickly IT partners can be on hand to support. Without prior investment in reliable real-time diagnostics or robust contingency plans, even a minor issue can escalate and take days or even weeks to resolve. While no brand is immune, those still operating with legacy systems or a track record of outages are especially vulnerable."

What is the latest from M&S on the cyber attack?

M&S CEO Mr Machin said this morning: “We are really sorry that we've not been able to offer you the service you expect from M&S over the last week. We are working day and night to manage the current cyber incident and get things back to normal for you as quickly as possible.

“Thank you from me and everyone at M&S for all the support you have shown us. We do not take it for granted and we are incredibly grateful.

“Our teams are doing the very best they can, and are ready to welcome you into our stores – whether you are shopping for food or for fashion, home and beauty this bank holiday weekend. Thank you for your support and thank you for shopping with us. We will continue to keep you updated.”