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This month’ s cover story, which can be found on page 15, features Quentyn Taylor, Senior Director of Information Security at Canon Europe, Middle East and Africa. He tells us how organisations must refocus on security fundamentals, visibility and resilience as attack surfaces continue to expand across hybrid, cloud and connected environments.

Taylor warns that compromised credentials remain one of the most underestimated threats, while AI is accelerating the speed and scale of cyberattacks. He also highlights the growing importance of security-bydefault approaches, ensuring protection is embedded throughout product design and lifecycle management.

According to Taylor, many organisations are still overlooking basic security hygiene such as patching, access controls and governance in favour of chasing more high-profile threats. He believes the next generation of

CISOs must combine technical expertise with strong communication and leadership skills to build security-first cultures across organisations. Ultimately, Taylor stresses that cyber-resilience depends on leadershipdriven governance, continuous awareness and the ability to recover quickly when attacks occur.

Elsewhere, Rebecca McKeown, Founder and Principal Psychologist at Mind Science, warns that the pressure facing cybersecurity teams is fundamentally changing how decisions are made during cyberincidents.

She explains that defenders operate in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment where cognitive strain, stress and emotional pressure can slow responses and increase the risk of human error, even when advanced tools and training are in place.

McKeown argues that confidence should be treated as a measurable performance capability, as both overconfidence and underconfidence can negatively affect judgement during incidents. She also highlights the growing psychological toll of ransomware attacks, out-of-hours incidents and prolonged recovery periods, which are contributing to burnout and making cybersecurity roles increasingly difficult to fill.

Ultimately, McKeown believes organisations must prioritise cognitive readiness and emotional resilience alongside technology, ensuring CISOs and security teams are equipped not only with technical skills but also with the ability to think clearly and adapt under extreme pressure.

You can read more starting on page 24.

Don’ t forget, you can stay informed with daily news updates on our website, where we bring you the latest insights and developments from the world of business technology. I’ d like to wish you a productive and successful month ahead. Please enjoy this issue and take your time to explore the articles we have prepared for you. See you next time.

Mark Bowen Editorial Director

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