"It was then bingo, we've found it," he said.

whether it was the gateway for the cyber attack.The company has told the BBC that the email was not sent from its system and that it has nothing to do with the breach at M&S.

M&S has declined to comment entirely.A darknet link shared in the extortion email connects to a portal for DragonForce victims to begin negotiating the ransom fee. This is further indication that the email is authentic.Sharing the link – the hackers wrote: "let's get the party started. Message us, we will make this fast and easy for us."

The criminals also appear to have details about the company's cyber insurance policy too saying "we know we can both help each other handsomely : ))".if the company has paid a ransom to the hackers.

DragonForce ended the email with an image of a dragon breathing fire.

The email confirms for the first time the link between M&S's hack and theConsidered the top scholar on French 18th-Century chairs, having written the authoritative book on the subject, Mr Pallot was often called upon by Versailles, among others, to give his expert opinion on whether historical items were the real deal. He was even called as an expert witness in French courts when there were doubts about an item's authenticity.

His accomplice, Mr Desnoues, was a decorated cabinetmaker and sculptor who had won a number of prestigious awards, including best sculptor in France in 1984, and had been employed as the main restorer of furniture at Versailles.Speaking in court in March, Mr Pallot said the scheme started as a "joke" with Mr Desnoues in 2007 to see if they could replicate an armchair they were already working on restoring, belonging to Madame du Barry.

Masters of their crafts, they managed the feat, convincing other experts that it was a chair from the period.And buoyed by their success, they started making more.