Why Cyber Resilience Isn’t Optional - It’s Critical in 2025

Cyber threats aren’t a matter of “if” but “when.” And that “when” is now. 2025 has seen a major uptick in serious cyber incidents across the UK and beyond. Resilience isn’t just about defending your perimeter; it’s about bouncing back, staying trustworthy, and keeping your business running no matter what.

1. Explosive Rise in Significant Cyber Incidents

• The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) reported a 50% increase in “highly significant” cyber incidents between August 2024 and August 2025. 

• These aren’t small phishing emails — many attacks are disrupting critical services and large enterprises.

2. Real-World Impact: Big Names, Big Losses

• In 2025, the Co-op suffered a cyber-attack that cost it £206 million in lost revenue.

• Jaguar Land Rover was hit by a severe cyber incident that forced factory shutdowns, illustrating how deeply cyber risk can ripple through supply chains. 

• According to ICAEW, cyber security is now one of the top business risks, not just an IT concern.

3. Widening Attack Surface via AI

• According to PwC’s 2025 Global Digital Trust Insights, 67% of security leaders said generative AI has increased their organisation’s attack surface in the past year. 

• Meanwhile, 85% of UK businesses plan to boost their cyber budgets, with many prioritising AI threat hunting.

4. Underinvestment in Resilience

• Shockingly, only 2% of companies in PwC’s survey say they’d implemented firm-wide cyber resilience. 

• And in the UK, many organisations still lack basics: only 40% of businesses report using multi-factor authentication and 31% use a VPN for remote work.

5. Cyber Insurance Is Now a Bigger Question

• Claims are surging. In the UK, cyber insurance claims more than tripled in 2024, per the Association of British Insurers.

• Ransomware remains a top risk, and extortion attacks (e.g. DDoS + ransom) are gaining momentum.

6. Persistent Threat Vectors: Phishing & Ransomware

• A Trustwave survey finds phishing still dominates attack methods (85% of businesses impacted), and ransomware attacks are rising. 

• These aren’t just technical failures, human elements and process gaps remain major risk factors.

Cyber resilience goes beyond merely preventing attacks. It’s about continuous, adaptive readiness so your organisation can prepare, respond, and recover quickly, even when prevention fails.

Key elements include:

• Immutable, Air-Gapped Backups: Ensure recovery data can’t be altered or deleted, even if attackers gain access.

• Hybrid / Multi-Cloud Resilience: Spread risk across different environments, no “single point of failure.”

• AI-Driven Defences: Use machine learning to predict anomalies, simulate attacks, and auto-tune controls (patching, access, firewalls).

• Continuous Recovery Assurance: Regularly test your disaster recovery plans, not just once, but on a schedule, with real-world scenarios.

• Integrated Cyber + Business Continuity Planning: Recovery isn’t just a technical issue, it’s a business issue. Make sure cyber recovery ties into your broader continuity and risk-management functions.

• Board-Level Accountability: Cyber resilience must be owned at the top. The UK government’s updated cyber-governance code now explicitly requires board-level oversight.

• Financial Risk: As shown by Co-op and others, cyber incidents can hit the bottom line hard.

• Reputation and Trust: Customers, partners, regulators expect you to manage cyber risk effectively.

• Regulatory Pressure: New cyber-governance guidance is pushing resilience to board-level. T

• Supply Chain Exposure: Attacks like JLR’s highlight how a breach in one part of your supply chain can cascade.

• Insurability: Without resilience, insurance premiums could spike, or you risk being underinsured.

• Strategic Advantage: Businesses that recover quickly gain trust, protect revenue, and outcompete less-prepared rivals.

• Risk & Resilience Assessment: Conduct a maturity assessment to understand your current resilience posture and gaps.

• Board Engagement: Elevate cyber risk to the board. Use the latest guidance (e.g., the UK’s updated cyber-governance code). 

• Invest in Resilient Infrastructure: Implement immutable backups, air-gapped storage, and hybrid cloud strategies.

• Adopt AI for Defense and Recovery: Use AI tools for threat detection, simulated attack exercises, and automated recovery checks.

• Test Recovery Plans Regularly: Run full-scale recovery drills and validate backups — not just for system recovery, but to ensure data integrity (i.e., that backup data isn’t infected).

• Train the Human Layer: Continuous phishing simulations and behavioral training are essential — the human factor is still the weakest link.

• Review Cyber Insurance Strategy: Work with brokers to align your resilience investments with insurance coverage – a strong resilience posture can reduce premiums.

• Monitor & Report: Use key metrics (MTTR, recovery time objective, recovery point objective) and report to leadership regularly.

Cyber resilience isn’t a “nice-to-have.” In 2025, with threats growing in sophistication, frequency, and impact — and with real-world cases showing how devastating downtime can be — it’s now a business imperative.

By proactively building resilience — via the right technology, processes, and leadership commitment — you don’t just protect your organisation: you give it the strength to recover fast, maintain trust, and stay competitive.

Want a clear snapshot of your resilience gaps? Get your AI-powered Recovery Risk Report today. Identify vulnerabilities, test your recovery playbooks, and design a roadmap for real-time resilience.