Cybersecurity, highlighted by recent attacks on the Co-op and Marks & Spencer, is not just a technical challenge but also a human and economic one, says Paul Ormerod

Cyber security has featured prominently in the media, following the attacks on the Co-op and Marks and Spencer.

The Co-op has recovered rather the better of the two. By taking their IT systems offline, they suffered more immediate damage, with empty shelves in many stores. But by so doing, they both prevented a ransomware attack and made the problem easier to remedy.

Their action prompted the criminals to complain, as old-fashioned burglars used to when breaking into coin-operated electricity meters and finding pennies filed down to resemble coins of a higher denomination. They accused the company of “torching shareholder value” – by preventing a ransomware attack!

Cyberattacks involve illegal activities. But otherwise it is an industry just like any other such as cars or televisions. It has........

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