M&S chair Norman to be quizzed by MPs about cyber attack

Norman will face the Business and Trade sub-committee that scrutinises economic security on Tuesday July 8, as it looks at what happened to Marks & Spencer and The Co-op, and considers the implications for the UK’s approach to addressing cyber risks in the private and public sectors.

Norman will be joined at the committee hearing by M&S colleagues Nick Folland, genreal counsel, and Victoria Mackenzie-Gould, corporate affairs director.

Co-operative Group secretary and general counsel Dominic Kendal-Ward and chief digital information officer Rob Elsey will also be questioned.

Both retailers suffered cyber-attacks in the spring. The hack of M&S was the most significant, resulting in disruption to various aspects of the business and the suspension of online trading, which is still not fully back to normal. The attack is expected to cost M&S about £300m.

Chair of the Business and Trade Committee the Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP said: “This was not just a costly disruption. It was a cyberattack that broke through the digital defences of two of Britain’s most cherished retail institutions – Marks and Spencer and Co-op – in quick succession.

“That should ring alarm bells. Because if attackers can reach these giants, they can reach anyone. The risk is no longer remote but pervasive and, some fear, uninsurable.

“This session is part of our wider inquiry into a simple question: in these new times how do we safeguard the nation’s economic security, on which the security of the realm now depends? On Tuesday, we’ll continue our work searching for the truth about the new risks we must now face, and the defences now needed to keep the nation’s economy safer.”