Recent cyber-attacks against major UK retailers have revealed the scale of vulnerability in legacy IT systems that run the country’s most vital services.
In quick succession both Co-op and Marks & Spencer faced disruption to their IT systems because of targeted attacks.
M&S was forced to suspend online sales – which net the business on average £3.8m a day – while the Co-op was forced to shut down entire parts of its IT system to avoid an attempted breach.
The scale of the attacks on two of Britain’s largest retailers, made worse by the fact they took place within a week of each other, has shown how vulnerable so many legacy IT systems still are.
“This incident highlights how brittle legacy architectures and siloed security practices are, and no match for sophisticated threat actors,” said Scott Dawson, chief executive of payment security and infrastructure group DECTA. …
