The National Cyber-Security Centre (NCSC) reported a 50% increase in highly significant cyber attacks so far in 2025 vs 2024 (NCSC Annual Review 2025). As the rate and impact of cyber attacks rises, it is important that you are not only on top of new and developing security strategies, but that you also have the essentials in place to ensure your data and platforms are protected.
In this insight we will cover:
- Why is cybersecurity so important?
- Making an emergency plan
- Keeping multiple layers of backups for essential data
- Reviewing your security stack
Why is cybersecurity so important?
The impact of a cyber attack can be wide-reaching, causing both downtime and data loss.
For many businesses, your income is reliant on your sites and applications being live at all times. For an eCommerce business for example, downtime means that customers cannot make purchases. In these instances, downtime directly leads to immediate financial losses.
Downtime also leads to ongoing financial losses due to damage to brand reputation – our research found that 1/3 of UK consumers would move to a competitors’ website after less than 30 seconds, overlooking existing brand loyalties, if their go-to brand suffered an outage (Consumer Tolerance to IT Downtime).
For large businesses, the impact extends to the economy as a whole, as seen with the recent hack of Jaguar Land Rover. A new report released by the Cyber Monitoring Centre in October 2025 stated that the attack cost the British economy an estimated £1.9 billion, and affected over 5000 organisations (Reuters).
Data loss can additionally lead to financial penalties. If a cyber attack is found to be the result of insufficient security measures, your company can be held responsible for any data breached.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) highlights this risk, stating that ‘If you don’t take adequate security measures to prevent or contain a serious personal data breach, this could lead to a fine’ (ICO). A fine from the ICO can reach up to £17.5 million or 4% of your total annual worldwide turnover in the preceding financial year – potentially catastrophic for the future of a business.
So, how can you protect your business from these risks?
Make an emergency plan
Even with a stringent security strategy, incidents can still occur. An incident response plan details how everyone in your organisation should act if an attack is successful. The plan should cover:
- Identification – How will you detect and verify an incident? Are your monitoring systems correctly configured, and are the right people receiving alerts?
- Containment – How will you respond to and contain the threat, in order to limit its impact?
- Communication – If your usual channels, such as email, or instant messaging platforms, are compromised, how should employees communicate with each other without risking further data breaches? How will your leadership team notify employees that the attack has occurred?
- Disaster recovery and failover – If the incident response strategy is triggered, what is the process for failover to your secondary DR site, and recovery of data from backups?
- Post-incident analysis – What will your process be for investigating the causes of the incident, and any weaknesses which allowed it to happen? How will you prevent this from happening again in the future?
Once you have produced your incident response plan, you should ensure it is distributed to all relevant stakeholders, and that everybody involved knows their roles. Your incident response plan should be a living document, with regular reviews and updates as the cyber security landscape changes.
Keep multiple layers of backups for essential data
For especially critical documents and systems, you may consider maintaining multiple layers of backup. Following the recent rise in attacks, the UK government has written to chief executives nationally advising that they keep offline backups of essential documents, including their emergency plan for how to operate should an attack be successful (BBC), highlighting the value of this approach.
The 3-2-1 strategy is a common approach – keeping three copies of your data, on two different types of media, with one stored offsite or offline. This method reduces the likelihood of a single point of failure and protects against data loss after an attack.
Offline or “air-gapped” backups are particularly valuable because they cannot be accessed via the internet, meaning they are immune to most forms of cyber attack. They can take the form of external hard drives, encrypted USB devices, or physical printouts of key records and contact details.
Similarly, immutable backups, copies of data which cannot be changed or deleted after they are created, can add an additional layer of resilience. Immutable backups can be used as a secure, trusted recovery point to restore data after an incident.
When implementing a backup strategy, businesses should ensure that:
- Backups are tested regularly – It’s not enough to have backups in place; you must also confirm that the data can be restored quickly and accurately.
- Backups are encrypted and stored securely – Data should be encrypted and access to data should be limited to authorised personnel only.
- Essential data is clearly defined – Consider which systems and files are truly mission-critical, such as financial records, customer databases, and operational documentation.
A robust backup plan can significantly reduce downtime and data loss during an incident, allowing business operations to continue while your primary systems are restored.
Review your security stack
Cybersecurity tools and tactics evolve rapidly. What protected your business two years ago may now be outdated or insufficient against today’s threats. Conducting a regular review of your security stack ensures that your defences remain aligned with best practices and the current threat landscape.
Start by mapping out your existing tools and services, identifying any overlaps, gaps, or legacy solutions that could introduce vulnerabilities. For instance, many businesses rely on a patchwork of antivirus software, endpoint protection, and cloud security controls that may not fully integrate or share threat intelligence.
Key areas to assess include:
- Endpoint security – Ensure all devices connecting to your network are monitored and protected, particularly with the rise of remote and hybrid work.
- Identity and access management (IAM) – Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) across all systems, review user permissions regularly, and adopt the principle of least privilege.
- Network security – Review firewalls, VPNs, and intrusion detection systems to check they are correctly configured and up to date.
- Application security – Regularly patch and update all software, and carry out vulnerability scanning or penetration testing to identify weaknesses before attackers do.
Partnering with a managed service provider can also help simplify this process, providing expert oversight, continuous monitoring, and threat detection around the clock.
Finally, remember that technology alone is not enough. Human error remains one of the leading causes of cyber incidents. Combine your technical controls with regular staff training, simulated phishing exercises, and clear security policies to build a culture of awareness across your organisation.
Your next steps
As cyber threats continue to evolve, maintaining the fundamentals of cybersecurity is essential. Even the most advanced tools rely on having strong foundations in place. By reviewing your emergency plan, maintaining backups, and assessing your security stack, you can strengthen your resilience against emerging threats in 2025 and beyond.
At Hyve, we take a proactive approach to security. From 24/7/365 monitoring and managed firewalls to disaster recovery and backup solutions, we help businesses stay protected and operational at all times. Our experts work with you to identify vulnerabilities, implement robust defences, and ensure your data remains secure.
Speak to one of our experts to review your cybersecurity strategy and prepare your business for the year ahead – fill out our contact form and we will be in touch.