Five Ways Retailers can Boost Cyber Security and Protect Customer Data

The retail sector today is heavily data driven. Retailers collect and analyse data about consumer behaviour, seasonal buying trends, which products they typically buy with others, and how the weather affects sales. Quality data helps predict demand, drive revenue, and maximise profit. Businesses are constantly trying to understand their customers better and work out how to attract more people to enter their stores, buy online, and sign up for loyalty cards.

All this data and the insights gained is like gold dust to a retailer. But it’s also a gold mine for financially motivated cybercriminals who know that if they can steal data, they can threaten to sell it on the dark web and hold the business to ransom.

The frequency of cyber-attacks against most sectors, including, retail has risen year-on-year for most of the past five years, and many experts say it’s not if but when any business will be breached.

In the last week of April 2025 in the UK, three famous retail brands were hit by cyber-attacks, with one attributed to the financially motivated cybercriminal group . Quorum Cyber’s Threat Intelligence (TI) team has produced an update on this attack with recommendations for retailers to enhance their security.

So, it’s no surprise that executives place cyber risk near the top of the risks their business faces. This makes it imperative for companies to assess their cyber weaknesses, strengthen their cyber security posture and bolster their cyber resilience.

A strong cyber security strategy will help protect a retailer before, during, and after any cyber incident. And the best strategies will comprise these five approaches to reduce cyber risk:

Preparedness

Being prepared is key and could pay dividends in the worst-case scenario. That’s why Incident Response Preparedness helps you plan the best possible response to any kind of incident, day or night, 365 days a year. Preparedness includes planning and practicing tabletop exercises, which are akin to fire drills and ensure your team know who does what, and what is communicated when, if a cyber-attack does strikes.

Another crucial part of preparedness is an Incident Response Retainer (IRR). This is a partnership with a cyber security specialist that can provide immediate assistance in the event of a security breach. With this agreement in place, you’ll be able to manage the incident and recover effectively, minimising the risk of further damage. Additionally, the specialist provider should proactively enhance your organisation’s cyber security defences to lower the risk of future attacks.

Security maturity assessment

A Security Maturity Assessment (SMA) is designed to help you understand the holistic cyber security maturity of your business and where to invest to address risk and resilience. This process entails reviewing your current security measures and processes, then benchmarking them against industry best practices and standards.

Quorum Cyber’s SMA service will highlight strengths and weaknesses in your organisation’s security posture, empowering you to better handle security incidents. Our SMA will provide a roadmap for enhancing your security strategy, and ensure you align with the retail sector’s regulations.

Cyber risk assessment

Complementing an SMA, a Cyber Risk Assessment (CRA) will give you a deep understanding of your current cyber risk status. Quorum Cyber’s CRA enables you to make informed decisions for designing and implementing a cyber resilience strategy that fits your business’s unique requirements.

Around-the-clock monitoring, detection, and response

A cyber-attack can occur at any time, so retailers need 24/7 monitoring, detection, and response across the entire IT estate. As financially motivated cybercriminals attempt to steal data for a living, it’s crucial to defend data wherever it resides, be it on-premises or in the cloud. Our comprehensive range of Clarity managed security services offer scalable protection that can be adjusted as your business evolves, ensuring you always have the right level of security.

Data security

By taking data security to the next level, retailers will safeguard their crown jewels and master their data, all while adhering to compliance rules and privacy standards. Quorum Cyber’s Clarity Data helps you configure and optimise data loss prevention (DLP) and insider risk tools – so you protect your data from the full range of threats.