On May 21, 2025, CNBC reported that Marks & Spencer (M&S), one of the UK's largest and most iconic retailers, is now expecting a staggering one-third of its annual profits to be wiped out due to a major cyberattack. The financial hit is not only damaging to the company’s bottom line, but it also sends an urgent warning to businesses worldwide: the cost of being unprepared for cyber threats is rising—and fast.
📉 “Marks & Spencer said in a statement the incident has significantly disrupted its operations, costing the company tens of millions in lost sales, remediation, and customer trust.”
— CNBC
While the article doesn't reveal the exact nature of the attack, the impact is clear: operations were compromised, financial results were devastated, and reputational damage is likely to have long-term consequences.
This is not an isolated case. Across every sector—retail, healthcare, finance, manufacturing—cyberattacks are escalating in frequency, sophistication, and cost. The standard "Detect and Respond" cybersecurity model is failing under pressure. Reactive solutions can't keep up with modern, stealthy malware and zero-day exploits. By the time a breach is detected, it's often too late.
What’s Not Working: The Limitations of 'Detect and Respond'
“Detect and Respond” has long been the industry standard approach. It relies on identifying malicious activity after it starts and then attempting to contain or remediate the damage. But as threat actors increasingly deploy fileless malware, AI-written exploits, and multi-stage attacks, detection is often delayed or entirely evaded.
Detection-based solutions, including traditional antivirus and many EDR platforms, struggle to keep up. Attackers only need to get through once. Defenders must get it right every single time.
In the M&S case, the breach appears to have been widespread before being contained. That’s exactly the scenario businesses must now architect against.
The Alternative: Isolation and Containment with AppGuard
It’s time to flip the model. Instead of trying to detect what’s bad, why not stop malware from executing in the first place?
That’s the foundation of AppGuard—a proven endpoint protection solution with a 10-year track record of zero breaches. Now available for commercial use, AppGuard doesn't rely on signatures or behavioral analytics to detect malware. Instead, it prevents malware from launching or causing harm, even if it's never been seen before.
By isolating applications and containing behaviors that deviate from trusted norms, AppGuard blocks attacks without disrupting business operations or bombarding IT teams with false positives. No updates. No constant tuning. Just true prevention.
Why Businesses Should Pay Attention Now
The M&S incident is a red flag for every business owner, IT manager, and boardroom. If a well-resourced, internationally respected brand like M&S can fall victim to a breach that devastates their profit margins, so can you.
You don’t have to be the next headline. There’s a better way to protect your operations and your future.
It’s time to move from “Detect and Respond” to “Isolation and Containment.”
At CHIPS, we help businesses get ahead of cyber threats—not chase after them. AppGuard is the shield your company needs to prevent incidents like the one that just cost M&S nearly a third of its annual profits.
Talk with us today about how AppGuard can protect your business before attackers strike.
🔒 AppGuard is prevention, not detection.
📞 Schedule a consultation with CHIPS today.
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