M&S resumes popular service for first time in over 3 months after major cyber hacking
M&S is getting back on its feet after it was crippled by cyber hackers earlier in the year. The damaging attack meant that many of its online services had to be halted.
Following the scandal, the beloved high street stalwart halted all purchases and orders that shoppers had made through its website and app back on Friday, April 25.
However, it seems that things are slowly getting back to normal, as the retail giant has officially resumed its Click & Collect service, marking the first time in 15 weeks it has been available for shoppers.
As reported by the BBC, online orders were restarted on June 10, with customers now able to make returns by visiting any M&S store.
Following its temporary pause, customers who had online orders cancelled or delayed during the attack were sent out e-gift cards that could be used online or in-store as a 'thank you' from the retailer.
It's the latest online service to be restored from the company, as its fashion ranges went available to shop online across England, Scotland and Wales back in July.
At the time, Chief Executive Stuart Machin confirmed to shareholders that he expected all services to be returned to normal by August, as it also looked to getting online productions fully back up and running at its main distribution centre at Castle Donnington.
He said: "I have previously highlighted that it would take all of June and all of July, maybe into August [to resume all of its operations].
"Within the next four weeks we are hoping for the whole of online to be fully on. We're hoping that by August we will have the vast majority of this behind us and people can see the true M&S."
The return of M&S' Click and Collect means that all of its online services are officially restored following the firm being the target of a ransomware attack that has been linked to a group known as Scattered Spider.
While the retailer never confirmed the culprit behind the attack, it is believed that the notorious gang employed a hacking tool from DragonForce to scramble its victims' data before demanding a ransom to get the key to unscramble it.
It marked the beginning off a flurry of cyber hacks across the UK high street, with retailers including Co-op and luxury firm Harrods also being target by hackers who tried to access IT systems.
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However, the attack on M&S proved to be quite crippling, with the high street favourite taking the biggest hit from attackers, as the incident is said to have lost the firm around an estimated £300 million.
After "temporarily halting" its online systems in April, it was then revealed that personal data had been stolen during the attack, which led to M&S facing a multi-million pound lawsuit from Scots customers who had been affected
It was confirmed that details that had been stolen included telephone numbers, home addresses, dates of birth and online ordering histories of millions of people.
Following police investigation, the National Crime Agency (NCA) then arrested four people - one woman and three men - in connection with the attack.
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