With the rapid growth in e-commerce, retailers increasingly collect and store customer data to deliver personalized shopping experiences. Yet without proper safeguards in place, unsecured data can introduce significant risk.
In 2025 and 2024 alone, major retailers such as Dior, Adidas, The North Face, Cartier, Victoria’s Secret, Pandora and Chanel were hit by cyberattacks. In fact, Fortinet stated that 24 percent of all cyberattacks specifically target retailers.
It’s not just consumer personal data that’s increasingly at risk, but corporate information as well. “The retail industry is one of the most IP-intensive industries in the world, and it needs to protect its trade secrets as well as intellectual property,” said Alexander Niejelow, executive director, Hilco Global Cyber Advisors, in a fireside chat for Retail Rx with Lauren Parker, director of Fairchild Studio.
“There’s also a brand aspect from a reputational standpoint, which makes retailers uniquely targeted, particularly by ransomware actors. [Cyber attackers] understand that if they lock up a retailer’s system, not only is there a trust aspect to it, but there’s a functional operational capacity that stops. So, [criminals] see retailers as a ripe target with both highly public-facing information and needs [and a likelihood] to potentially pay the ‘ransom.’”
As mergers and acquisitions tick up in the fashion world, risk assessments and cyber due diligence are more crucial than ever. With multimillion or billion-dollar M&A hinging on proprietary IP and critical data, a company can’t afford anything that would jeopardize that value.
Niejelow, who has worked for everyone from The White House to Mastercard, stresses that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for retailers and brands to eliminate cybersecurity danger. “Everything is a risk judgment, and you can dial that up and down. That, to me, is what the right level of engagement both the board and executive leadership teams need to find buy in.”
Watch the video to learn more about mitigating cybersecurity risks.
Produced by GABING
Directed & Edited by Gabriel Inghilterra
