Cyber Attacks on Retailers: Lessons from 2025
- marketing60147
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Cyber attacks on retailers are becoming more common, and in 2025, they became a persistent business risk, hitting both household names and mid-sized organisations. The reason why retailers are attractive targets is because they process huge volumes of personal and payment data, operate complex supply chains, and rely on systems that must stay online at all times.
Research shows 44% of retail organisations report a sharp increase in cyber attacks. From ransomware and data theft to operational disruption, this impacts retailers across all aspects of their operations.
Well-known UK retailers including Marks & Spencer and Co-op were among those affected by cyber security incidents in 2025, reminding the industry that even mature, well-resourced organisations are not immune.
This article looks at what happened, the patterns behind these attacks, and what retailers should do now to be better prepared for 2026, including how a penetration test could strengthen retailers' cyber security posture.
A look back at major retailer breaches in 2025
Several of the most disruptive incidents in 2025 followed a familiar playbook. Attackers gained an initial foothold through phishing or compromised credentials, moved laterally through poorly segmented networks, and then deployed ransomware or exfiltrated sensitive data.
In some cases, retailers faced temporary store closures or online outages. In others, the damage was less visible but just as serious, involving customer data exposure or long recovery periods for internal systems. The reputational fallout often lasted far longer than the technical recovery.
What stood out in 2025 was not just the scale of individual attacks, but how similar many of them were. The same signals appeared again and again.
Common patterns behind retail cyber attacks
Unpatched and legacy systems
Retail environments often run a mix of modern platforms and legacy systems, particularly in stores. In 2025, attackers repeatedly exploited unpatched vulnerabilities against older infrastructure that had been deprioritised or forgotten. When patching is delayed to avoid downtime, it creates a window of opportunity. Attackers are well aware of this tension and actively scan for known vulnerabilities in retail technology stacks.
POS vulnerabilities
Point-of-sale environments are widespread and are frequently connected to central systems. Oftentimes, they may lack modern endpoint protection, which threat actors can prey upon. Once compromised, POS systems can be used to harvest payment data or act as a bridge into wider corporate networks. Several 2025 incidents showed how a single compromised store system could escalate into a multi-site breach.
Third-party and supply chain exposure
Retailers rely on logistics providers, software vendors, marketing platforms, and payment processors. If one of those partners is breached, attackers can pivot into connected retailers and carry out a supply chain attack. This was a recurring theme in 2025. In some cases, the retailer’s own controls were solid, but trust relationships with third parties created unexpected exposure.
Social engineering still works
Despite years of awareness campaigns, social engineering remains one of the most effective attack methods. Methods such as phishing emails, fake support calls, and impersonation attacks have successfully tricked staff into handing over credentials or other sensitive information, which threat actors use to pursue attacks further.
Attackers target human behaviour because it allows them to bypass technical controls. Less experienced or less security-aware employees are often singled out, but even trained staff can be caught off guard during busy trading periods.
Why defence alone is not enough
Retailers have invested heavily in security tooling, and that investment is necessary. However, 2025 showed that no organisation can guarantee that it will never be breached. Unfortunately, given enough time and resources, attackers will find a way in. The difference between a contained incident and a full-scale crisis often comes down to preparation and response.
Response time matters
Fast detection and response significantly reduce damage. In several 2025 cases, breaches escalated because incidents went undetected for days or weeks. Having clear incident response plans, defined roles, and tested procedures makes a real difference. When teams know what to do, decisions happen faster, communication is clearer, and recovery is smoother.
Remediation planning is critical
Remediation does not start after a breach. It starts before one ever happens. Retailers that had rehearsed response scenarios, offline backups, and external support arrangements recovered more quickly and with less disruption.
Planning for failure is not pessimistic. It is practical.
Lessons for retailers heading into 2026
Based on what we saw in 2025, several lessons stand out.
Invest in people, not just tools. Security awareness training should be regular, practical, and relevant to retail roles. Staff need to recognise social engineering attempts and know how to report them quickly.
Take third-party risk seriously. Suppliers should be assessed, monitored, and held to clear security standards. Your risk surface includes everyone you connect to.
Prioritise patching and asset visibility. You cannot protect what you don’t know exists. Retailers need accurate inventories of systems, especially in-store technology. Also, patch to keep systems up to date to prevent the latest vulnerabilities.
Test your assumptions. Many 2025 incidents exploited gaps organisations did not realise they had. Regular testing is the only way to find those gaps before attackers do.
The role of penetration testing in retail security
Penetration testing plays a key role in preparing for modern retail threats. Unlike compliance-driven checklists, penetration testing simulates real-world attacks against your environment.
High-quality penetration testing services help retailers:
Identify exploitable vulnerabilities before attackers do
Test POS environments and store networks
Assess third-party access paths
Validate incident detection and response capabilities
Most importantly, penetration testing provides evidence-based insight into real risk, not just theoretical risk. This gives your security team guidance on which risks need to be top priority.
Build resilience with a penetration test with One Compliance
Don’t risk being the next retailer featured in the news for a cybersecurity breach. Contact One Compliance to improve your cyber posture and maintain customer trust.
Comments