Protecting Your Business from Cyber Threats: Lessons from the M&S Attack

What happened?

The recent M&S cyberattack caused serious disruption across multiple touchpoints:

• Online orders stalled, causing a ripple effect across fulfilment operations.
• Contactless payment systems failed, grinding in-store purchases to a halt.
• Click-and-collect services froze, frustrating customers expecting fast, seamless pickups.
• Warehouse operations were disrupted, pushing back stock management and delivery schedules.

Early reports suggest it could have been a ransomware attack: a type of cyberattack where attackers attempt to extort payment, often by encrypting, stealing, or otherwise compromising a company’s data or systems.

The BBC has reported that the cyberattack led to M&S’s website and store tills going down. The Guardian has reported that warehouse staff were also impacted.

The investigation is still ongoing, but one thing’s clear: the operational, financial, and reputational impact is massive.

When ecommerce brands are built on convenience, speed, and trust, even a few hours of downtime can cause lasting damage.

Bottom line: downtime. Chaos. Frustrated customers.

What’s the risk for your business?

Cyberattacks don’t just hit your systems – they undermine your entire business. Here’s what you’re really risking:

• Lost revenue: every minute your site is down due to a cyberattack translates directly into lost sales, disrupting your revenue stream. In the fast-paced world of ecommerce, customers expect instant access; when your site is unavailable, they won’t wait around. Instead, they’ll quickly turn to your competitors, capturing sales that would have been yours. Beyond the immediate loss of transactions, downtime can erode customer loyalty, as negative experiences lead shoppers to seek more reliable alternatives in the future.
• Damaged customer trust: customers entrust you with their sensitive data, expecting it to be handled with the utmost care and security. A cyber breach shatters this trust, creating a perception of negligence and vulnerability. News of a data breach spreads rapidly, leading to negative publicity, social media backlash, and a damaged reputation. This erosion of trust translates into customer churn, as affected individuals take their business elsewhere, and potential customers are deterred from engaging with your brand. Rebuilding trust is a long and arduous process, requiring significant investment in public relations, security enhancements, and customer reassurance initiatives.
• Higher operational and support costs: recovering from a cyberattack involves a range of immediate and long-term expenses. The initial crisis demands significant resources for incident response, system repair, and data recovery. This often entails hiring external cybersecurity experts, upgrading infrastructure, and implementing new security measures. Simultaneously, customer support teams face a surge in inquiries and complaints, requiring additional staffing and training. In the aftermath, there may be legal and compliance costs, including potential fines, lawsuits, and regulatory penalties, especially if customer data is compromised. These financial burdens, coupled with the drain on internal resources and productivity, can severely impact your bottom line.

If M&S, with all its resources, can be vulnerable, smaller ecommerce businesses must take cybersecurity even more seriously.

How Velstar has your back

At Velstar, we understand that security isn’t just an add-on – it’s the bedrock of your ecommerce success. Here’s some of the ways we can support your security needs:

• Security-first development: we don’t just build websites; we craft secure digital storefronts. Our development process embeds security best practices from the initial design phase, not as an afterthought. This includes secure coding practices, input validation, and protection against common vulnerabilities like SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS).
• Static code analysis: we employ automated static code analysis tools to meticulously scan our codebase, identifying potential vulnerabilities early in the development lifecycle. This proactive approach allows us to catch and rectify security flaws before they ever make it into a live environment, significantly reducing the risk of exploitation.
• Application scanning: our security protocols include regular application scanning with advanced tools to monitor your ecommerce platform for known vulnerabilities. We identify issues such as outdated components, misconfigurations, and other weaknesses, prioritising remediation based on severity to keep you ahead of potential threats.
• 24/7 monitoring and response: cyber threats don’t adhere to a 9-to-5 schedule, and neither do we. Our dedicated security team provides round-the-clock monitoring of your systems, ensuring immediate detection and response to any suspicious activity. We’re always on guard, ready to neutralise threats and minimise potential damage.
• Penetration testing and audits: to rigorously assess your security posture, we conduct regular penetration testing and security audits. Our security experts simulate real-world attack scenarios to identify potential weak spots and vulnerabilities in your systems. This proactive approach allows us to fortify your defences before malicious actors can exploit them.
• Disaster recovery planning: even with the strongest defences, unforeseen events can occur. That’s why we develop comprehensive disaster recovery plans tailored to your ecommerce operations. In the event of a security incident or system failure, our plans ensure rapid recovery, minimal downtime, and the swift restoration of your online business operations.
• Web Application Firewalls (WAF): we implement Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) as a critical line of defence, filtering and blocking malicious HTTP traffic before it can reach your web applications. WAFs protect against a wide range of attacks, including SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and DDoS attacks, providing an essential layer of security for your ecommerce platform.

Why Velstar?

Major brands trust us to keep their ecommerce ecosystems safe. From Shopify Plus to Bespoke builds, we know how to build fast, secure platforms that scale – and stay resilient.

Our final thought

If M&S can be caught off guard, any business can. Don’t wait for a crisis to get serious about cybersecurity. Partner with Velstar and protect what you’ve worked so hard to build.

Let’s talk security. Get in touch with us today.