Originally published at Tech Radar Pro
The recent cyber-attack on Marks & Spencer is the kind of incident that makes business leaders stop and ask themselves: could their organisation be next? It definitely was a stark reminder that no business is immune to today’s cyber threats, regardless of size or market presence.
M&S wasn’t the only retailer affected in recent months. Specialist food distributor Peter Green Chilled, alongside Co-op, North Face, Cartier and others, were all targeted in the first six months of the year. Each breach has demonstrated how quickly a single compromise can ripple through revenue, logistics, and customer trust. Even for organisations with well-rehearsed contingency plans.
In a new article for TechRadar Pro, Jake Madders, Director and Co-Founder of Hyve Managed Hosting, explores why the retail sector has become such a consistent target. The answer lies in the vast volumes of data these companies handle these days. As every stage of the retail supply chain – from stock control to fulfilment – has become digitally integrated in the pursuit of efficiency, achieving complete security has become virtually impossible.
In the piece, Jake Madders argues that, with the right hosting partnerships, a layered defence strategy, a rapid crisis response and a strong organisational security awareness, retailers can withstand cyberattacks without stopping day-to-day operations, while preserving business continuity and the trust that underpins every customer transaction.
Key quotes from the article:
“As every part of the retail supply chain process, from stock control to fulfilment, is now digitally integrated … it has become almost impossible to guarantee total security.”
“Removing all cyber risk is impossible, so organisations must switch focus to damage limitation and maintenance of legitimate trade, using layered security instead of relying totally on a single gatekeeper.”
“High on the shopping list for retailers should be real-time endpoint detection and response (EDR) or extended detection and response (XDR) platforms… Strict network segmentation limits an intruder’s freedom of movement in systems. A zero-trust model will make life harder for them.”
After the immediate threat is contained and systems are restored, rebuilding confidence is tough … A timetable of transparent updates shows respect and reduces speculation.”
“Many retailers use managed service providers (MSPs) to accelerate all these steps, bringing access to wider experience and expertise, round-the-clock monitoring and economies of scale.”
Read the full article here.