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PRIVACY
Retail & Consumer

M&S chair says º£½ÇÊÓÆµ is 'traumatised' after cyber attack and needs to 'muscle up'

Speaking to lawmakers on Tuesday, Marks & Spencer chair Archie Norman said the º£½ÇÊÓÆµ is 'just not resourced up to operate at [the US] level' when it comes to cyber security

Marks & Spencer logo(Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)

M&S chairman Archie Norman has declared that the º£½ÇÊÓÆµ is likely under-equipped to combat cyber threats and must strengthen its security capabilities to attract investment.

Addressing parliamentarians on Tuesday, Norman argued that the º£½ÇÊÓÆµ is "just not resourced up to operate at [the US] level, as reported by .

"It's very advantageous if we in this country have leading cyber security experts, because we have a cyber services industry," he stated, suggesting it should be "our aspiration" to maintain exceptionally high cyber standards, top-quality advisers and robust national authorities.

M&S endured a severe cyber assault on April 17th through social engineering methods, with the Scattered Spider hacking collective managing to breach systems and ultimately causing a £300m dent in M&S profits for this financial year.

"It's not an overstatement to describe it as traumatic," Norman remarked. "We're still in the rebuild mode, and we will be for some time to come."

M&S has predominantly restored its online operations, but doesn't anticipate a complete return to normality until August.

"It's very rare to have a criminal act in another country or in this country... essentially trying to destroy your business," Norman observed. "It's like an out of body experience."

M&S chair: 'Assume the perimeter is permeable'

Norman warned that all online enterprises face the risk of a cyber attack similar to M&S's experience. "The right thing to do, if you're in our business, is to assume that the perimeter is permeable. Ultimately, can they get in? They probably can, if they try hard enough," he said.