NewsHail
25 May 2025
An Indian IT company is checking if it was used in a cyber-attack on Marks & Spencer (M&S), the BBC has learned.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has worked with M&S for over 10 years.
This week, M&S said hackers got into its systems through a “third party.” That means a company that works with M&S, not the hackers directly breaking in.
Both M&S and TCS did not want to give comments.
The Financial Times first shared the story. It said people close to the case hope to finish the check by the end of the month.
It is not clear when TCS started its internal review.
Since the end of April, shoppers have not been able to buy things from the M&S website.
M&S said online services will slowly get better over the next few weeks. But some problems may last until July.
The company thinks the attack will cut its profits by about £300 million this year.
Police are looking at a hacker group called Scattered Spider. They speak English and are known to be skilled.
This same group may have also attacked the Co-op and Harrods. But M&S was hit the hardest.
TCS has over 607,000 workers around the world. It also sponsors big marathons in New York, London, and Sydney.
On its website, TCS says it helped M&S with Sparks, their customer reward program.
In 2023, TCS and M&S won an award for their strong partnership.
TCS works with many other well-known companies, including the Co-op.
It is not clear if the TCS check is also looking into the Co-op hack.
TCS also has clients like easyJet, Nationwide, and Jaguar Land Rover.
This week, M&S boss Stuart Machin said: “We have faced a smart and targeted cyber-attack. It caused short-term problems.”
On a call with the media on Wednesday, he did not say if M&S had paid any ransom.
