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ANALYSIS
5. Speak the board’ s language
Strategy means nothing without the board’ s buy-in. That starts by shifting the narrative from tools and alerts to outcomes. Boards want to know that the business will be safe and operational if an attack happens and that regulatory penalties will be avoided.
$ 4.88 million in 2024. So, we’ re effectively spending more for little gain.
Every pound must be spent on proactively improving cyber resilience rather than a short-term approach to filling individual security gaps. Audit your investments. Are they reducing meaningful risk, or patching over legacy gaps? Consider what will give you the biggest risk reduction for the lowest budget. Is there a better and simpler way to reduce ransomware risk that enables you to remove legacy security tools?
4. Implement a breach containment strategy
Containment is the most effective way to strengthen resilience against ransomware. This means prioritising rapid detection and containment of threats to minimise potential harm.
Start by identifying the most critical systems you must keep running in the event of an attack. Then, implement controls like segmentation to limit access, isolate attacks and prevent attackers from spreading laterally.
Even if one endpoint or server is compromised, attackers will hit a wall when they try to move further. Your most critical systems stay safe, your brand remains intact and your business keeps running.
Focus on how cybersecurity investments deliver measurable returns by reducing risk and boosting operational resilience. Take time to map the outcomes of investments to productivity, reputation and the bottom line – things that the board truly cares about.
Containment: a strategic career move
Cybersecurity is finally in the boardroom spotlight. But attention is fleeting and recognition is easily lost if the business suffers a catastrophic attack.
Breaches no longer just steal data; they disrupt operations, erode trust and have long-term financial repercussions. We must force attackers to change their behaviour to mitigate risks, but that will only happen when we change our own.
Prevention still matters, but resilience is what defines a modern security leader. Blocking every attack is unrealistic. What makes or breaks a business is how prepared it is and how swiftly it responds.
By embedding a breach containment strategy, built on visibility, segmentation and solid security hygiene, you can lead with confidence and reduce the impact of attacks before they occur.
It’ s not surrender – its survival. Make resilience your legacy, so you and your business can withstand whatever comes your way.
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