by According to security experts, a flood of top-class cyber attacks on British retailers is part of a persistent “fraud spandemic” that warn that more greater incidents are inevitable.
The cooperative, Harrods and Marks and Spencer are among the companies that suffered crippled hacks in 2025, which have affected the data of millions of customers and have led millions of pounds in lost income.
“These attacks are not only serious data injuries, but have also quickly developed into surgical nightmares that cause serious long -term financial and reputational setbacks” The independent.
“With this fraud painting, the view shows how vulnerable many companies are, in particular those who rely on outdated processes or inconsistent training courses, pressure on IT systems that have already been extended and lets the customer data dangerously vulnerable.”
In a recent report by Skillcast, a “significant part” of experts “regularly did not pass basic security steps”, which indicates that the employees are not prepared to cope with cyber threats.
According to Anthony Lloyd, the main cyber technologist of the data protection company TMC3, the series of attacks is part of a “blood in the water” effect.
He said The independent That the success of certain hacking methods of these retailers encouraged cybercriminals and tempted more to carry out attacks.
“You start after -work attacks against other organizations within the same sector, provided you have similar weaknesses,” said Lloyd.
“It is less about a sudden increase in sophistication and more about attackers who concentrate on a sector that you have as a soft defense and high-quality customer data.
“There is also the problem of constant tension between security and customer experience. In order to keep online shopping shopping and easy, the retailers ignore the multi -factor -autorization (MFA), as this means an additional effort for customers who took care of them. Attackers know that and they choose.”
Mr. Lloyd also called for complete cultural change when it comes to security training in large organizations to protect your customers and protect the room.
Other experts have warned that the recent attacks could be a prelude to much more devastating attacks that have the potential not only to be annoying, but fatal.
“The risk of a large -scale attack on the critical infrastructure is no longer hypothetical” The independent last month.
“The techniques used in recent retail and legal violations – identity compromises, ransomware, lateral movement – are exactly the type of methods that could interfere with health care, service programs or government systems.
“Although we have not yet seen a” Black Swan “cyber event in the UK, the trajectory of these attacks indicates that it is a matter of time, not if we accelerate systemic readiness and resistance between the sectors.”
