Marks and Spencer said the company was “working day and night” to restore full operations after the firm suffered a cyber attack. Stuart Machin, chief executive of the high street giant, said he is “really sorry” customers have been affected by the fallout from the attack.
The retailer is currently unable to process any online orders after shutting down parts of its online systems to deal with a “cyber incident”. M&S first reported the issue over the Easter weekend but has seen its operations impacted for more than a week.
Initially, the company, which serves more than 30 million customers a year through 1,492 global store locations, saw contactless payments and click and collect orders affected. Last week, it said it would no longer be able to take orders through its website or app in order to deal with the problem.
Earlier today, the Information Commissioner’s Office said it is also looking into the attack, as well as a similar incident involving the Co-op.
Stephen Bonner, deputy commissioner at the ICO, said: “We can confirm we have received reports from Marks and Spencer plc and the Co-op Group.
“We are making enquiries with these organisations and working closely with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).”
Meanwhile, in a fresh message to customers, M&S’s Mr Machin thanked customers for their patience but did not say when normal operations would resume.
He said: “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.”
The company has also been unable to hire new workers after pulling job adverts from its website as tech experts seek to resolve issues across its online systems. Meanwhile, Harrods became the latest retailer to confirm it had been impacted by an attempted hack.
The luxury London department store said it had restricted internet access across its sites on Thursday as a precautionary measure following an attempt to gain unauthorised access to its systems.
