Staff working from home “leave businesses open to lethal cyber attacks”

Posted to News on Thursday, July 10, 2025 Share:

BRITISH BUSINESSES fear hackers could completely wipe them out following the devastating cyber attack on Marks & Spencer, a new survey has found. Two-thirds of security leaders at medium and large-sized companies in the UK admit an assault on a similar scale could “cripple” their organisation.

In parallel, experts have also warned that the financial damage from ransom demands and clean-up costs can often run into millions of pounds, which is enough to jeopardise some firms’ futures.

The survey orchestrated by Absolute Security was carried out just weeks after M&S was hit over the Easter holidays, costing the retailer circa £300 million and shaving around £1 billion off its market value. The company polled 250 UK security chiefs through a survey conducted by Censuswide.

M&S boss Stuart Machin recently admitted the attack (caused by ‘human error’) had been “the most challenging situation we’ve encountered”.

Security leaders have revealed that members of staff still working from home remain a major problem, with 62% of those leaders revealing remote devices are the “biggest weakness” in their digital defences.

Over half (51%, in fact) of the businesses polled had been hit by a ransomware attack in the past year, with 59% citing it as their biggest concern. The consequences of such an attack are profound, with 63% of the 250 security leaders interviewed in May revealing the financial loss from ransomware could “cripple” their organisation.

In response to these growing risks, over one-third (34%) have implemented full bans on Artificial Intelligence (AI) due to cyber security concerns, while 30% of Chief Information Security Officers say they've already pulled the plug on AI tools within their own organisation.

Andy Ward, senior vice-president for international business at Absolute Security, commented: “Recent high-profile cyber attacks have highlighted just how vulnerable major British retailers – and, indeed, many UK businesses – have become. Cyber criminals now have the capacity to severely disrupt or even dismantle organisations at scale.”

Ward concluded: “Our research reveals many large and medium-sized UK businesses firmly believe that a serious cyber incident could cripple their operations or even threaten their very survival.”