M&S Cyber Attack

[Badger11]

The papers are full of the problems of M&S IT which has meant online customer orders not being fulfilled and empty shelves in stores as presumably the reordering process is not working.

I thought I would weigh in on why this is taking so long to resolve.

Years ago I worked for a bank and we had an IT link up with M&S. This was something I had done many times with other corporate clients and it normally involved myself from the bank a senior manager from the company and an IT guy who was going to do the work.

Imagine my surprise when I turned up for the start up meeting at their Oxford Street HQ only to be met by about 20 of their staff.

It became very clear very quickly they were all jobsworths and didn't have a clue about IT security and were totally incapable of making a decision that any junior IT worker would have done.

Fortunately for me I changed jobs because trying to get them all to agree on simple IT decisions was like herding cats.

I can only assume that this sort of CYA "I have to be at the meeting but I am scared to make a decision" is still the norm in the company.

It begs the question how many other major corporations are out there with similar flawed management just ripe for being attacked by these criminals.

 

[Eaglehamster]

The papers are full of the problems of M&S IT which has meant online customer orders not being fulfilled and empty shelves in stores as presumably the reordering process is not working.

I thought I would weigh in on why this is taking so long to resolve.

Years ago I worked for a bank and we had an IT link up with M&S. This was something I had done many times with other corporate clients and it normally involved myself from the bank a senior manager from the company and an IT guy who was going to do the work.

Imagine my surprise when I turned up for the start up meeting at their Oxford Street HQ only to be met by about 20 of their staff.

It became very clear very quickly they were all jobsworths and didn't have a clue about IT security and were totally incapable of making a decision that any junior IT worker would have done.

Fortunately for me I changed jobs because trying to get them all to agree on simple IT decisions was like herding cats.

I can only assume that this sort of CYA "I have to be at the meeting but I am scared to make a decision" is still the norm in the company.

It begs the question how many other major corporations are out there with similar flawed management just ripe for being attacked by these criminals.

Dunno when your experience was but I strongly suspect M&S had been one of the sheep and outsourced their IT department. "To concentrate on our core business" was the spiel. The company I worked for was a blue chip insurance company who did the same - the IT section was despised by the rest because they had to pay it decent salaries unlike the clerical staff. Eventually the company just faded into oblivion.

 

[Forest Hillbilly]

My comments are from a friend who works in a store.
Management don't actually manage. They follow an M&S system.
Hence, when unexpected stuff happens the management seem incapable of using brainpower.
The store where my friend works has been 'very quiet' this week. I'm sure customers will return soon, but the loss of revenue from this week will be horrendous.

And the management will blame the workers, for not putting the effort in. 😀

 

[Wisbech Eagle]

I was dealing with M&S many years ago when they expanded their fresh food offering and tried to establish themselves as delivering superior quality to the major supermarkets.

The decision making was by “selectors” who, exclusively so far as I could tell, were newly qualified graduates in business studies with no knowledge at all of the food industry. They then instructed suppliers what they wanted without any regard to the logistics or production requirements.

I was involved in the supplies of a fresh fruit salad product which the selector insisted must include grapes that were peeled. There wasn’t then, nor I suspect now, a machine that can peel grapes so this had to be done by hand, resulting in a very expensive product.

As a boy my clothes all came from Marks. They were good value and well made. These days I rarely shop there for anything. And never food.

 

[Eaglehamster]

My comments are from a friend who works in a store.
Management don't actually manage. They follow an M&S system.
Hence, when unexpected stuff happens the management seem incapable of using brainpower.
The store where my friend works has been 'very quiet' this week. I'm sure customers will return soon, but the loss of revenue from this week will be horrendous.

And the management will blame the workers, for not putting the effort in. 😀

One of the reasons I was happy to retire early. Management by numbers. Experience counts for nothing. All intangibles ignored because they can't be measured. Complete BS - no wonder the country's sinking.

 

[mezzer]

I was dealing with M&S many years ago when they expanded their fresh food offering and tried to establish themselves as delivering superior quality to the major supermarkets.

The decision making was by “selectors” who, exclusively so far as I could tell, were newly qualified graduates in business studies with no knowledge at all of the food industry. They then instructed suppliers what they wanted without any regard to the logistics or production requirements.

I was involved in the supplies of a fresh fruit salad product which the selector insisted must include grapes that were peeled. There wasn’t then, nor I suspect now, a machine that can peel grapes so this had to be done by hand, resulting in a very expensive product.

As a boy my clothes all came from Marks. They were good value and well made. These days I rarely shop there for anything. And never food.

I had a fruit salad from M&S only yesterday and I can confirm that not one of the grapes had been peeled, so cutbacks have certainly taken place over the years. It didn't seem any cheaper, mind.

 

[Badger11]

My comments are from a friend who works in a store.
Management don't actually manage. They follow an M&S system.
Hence, when unexpected stuff happens the management seem incapable of using brainpower.
The store where my friend works has been 'very quiet' this week. I'm sure customers will return soon, but the loss of revenue from this week will be horrendous.

And the management will blame the workers, for not putting the effort in. 😀

Later I also worked as a shelf stacker and I agree with your comments. However you would hope that the staff at HO would be a bit more clued up.

Regarding outsourcing I would not be surprised if the IT department was however that was not the issue it was the hordes of middle management who demanded to be involved didn't understand the project and would not make a decision. Normally it would be me and the IT guy all low level stuff with a senior manager involved at the start just to understand.

Anyway ever since then I have had a really poor view of M&S management.

 

[Forest Hillbilly]

M&S management is a tick-box system. As long as you've ticked the box, then you've done your job.

(Box of crayons supplied.)

 

[Forest Hillbilly]

And this ain't over by a long way yet.
Still no online ordering available from M&S. Staff having overtime payments delayed for the foreseeable future. Stock ordering and control all over the place, with lots of stuff being chucked as surplus to what stores require.
And it doesn't stop there. I have two court cases pending, which have been delayed without explanation. They have asked all parties not to use the website to load witness statements and to send everything by post to all parties involved.
I think these IT failures might be related. Employees are being told not to talk about it, but it's there for everyone to see,

 

[Apollofuzz]

This cyber attack has also affected the Co Op thd shelves are empty in our local store due to the lack of deliveries.

 

[Forest Hillbilly]

Rather happily my other half brings home carrier bags of fresh food that are surplus after every shift. I am eating very well at the moment,...for free. 😀

 

[Forest Hillbilly]

But I am concerned as to how the two court cases I'm involved with are going to be settled. the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has requested duplicates of evidence I've already provided.
Could their systems be impacted also, or is this related to a glitch in the court IT system ?

Will anyone tell us ? 😀

 

[Living In Hope]

I have no knowledge of the competence or otherwise of M&S management, but to attribute successful cyber attacks to management incompetence is way wide of the mark. I understand the M&S attack was based on someone successfully impersonating an M&S employee, and contacting their IT helpdesk to get their log-in credentials changed, allowing them to access the system.
There are plenty of ways to mitigate the risk, but no way of achieving 100% protection from cyber attacks.