In the UK, several major retailers and food chains, including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Argos, Greggs, and McDonald's, experienced significant IT outages over the course of a week, offering a brief foretaste of the vulnerability of a cashless economy. Described as 'IT problems' or 'IT glitches', these incidents at massive retailers have sparked a potent reminder about the importance of maintaining cash transactions in a digital age. The outages have led to widespread speculation about their cause, with some suggesting potential hacking, and have underscored the reliance on digital systems in the retail sector, raising concerns about IT infrastructure and cybersecurity. The impact was notably severe for Greggs, which saw a £40 million decrease in its company value, prompting discussions on what is going wrong with IT systems in retail. These events have also led to a period of mourning for the inability to process payments, highlighting how rare such outages occur and the general assumption that IT never fails unless there's been a cyber incident.
🇬🇧 Greggs, McDonald's, Sainsbury's and Tesco: what is wrong with IT systems in retail? https://t.co/FhgHan1sme
🇬🇧 Greggs IT glitch wipes £40million off the bakery chain's company value https://t.co/iU3UPiAfa0
Britain enters period of mourning as Greggs unable to process payments https://t.co/uGE27T7ElX
Now Greggs is hit by IT glitch: Just what is going on with Britain’s best-loved chains? Asks @willguyatt https://t.co/2EJiNJxNBL
McDonald's blames 'configuration change' for global outage https://t.co/Jrx3wPsJws via @computing_news What is interesting about this story, is how rarely these sort of outages occur, and how we have come to assume that IT never fails (unless there’s been a cyber incident)
“IT issue” or hacked 🤔 https://t.co/XRa2LPz4TX
Tesco… Sainsbury’s… Argos… now Greggs. Lots of “IT problems” for one week 🤔🕵🏻♂️
The mass IT outages at several massive retailers and food shops is a potent reminder of the importance of protecting cash in a digital age.
UK Citizens Just Got a Brief Foretaste of the Inherent Fragility of a Cashless Economy https://t.co/z01YARKboY