Building Cyber Resilience

How to Bounce Back Quickly from an IT Disaster (and Why You Need a Plan Before One Happens)

It's every business leader's worst nightmare: you come into work (or log in from home) and find that your systems are down, your files are missing, or your data has been encrypted by ransomware.

What happens now?

If you've got a Disaster Recovery Plan, a reliable IT partner, and solid backups in place - you recover and get back on your feet. If you don't? It's a scramble, a financial hit, and often a reputational one too.

This is where cyber resilience comes in. Not just protection - but preparedness.

Let's break down what cyber resilience means for SMEs in Greater Manchester, why it matters more than ever in 2025, and how to build it - without the panic.

First Off: What Is Cyber Resilience?

Cyber resilience is your business's ability to withstand and recover from IT disruptions, whether it's a cyber attack, hardware failure, or human error. It's about more than just prevention. It's about being able to say "If something goes wrong, we know what to do - and we'll be ok".

It covers:

• How you protect your systems
• How quickly you detect a breach or issue
• How fast you respond and recover
• How you continue serving customers while fixing the problem

It's your safety net - and in today's threat landscape, every business needs one.

Why It Matters Now

We're seeing more SMEs than ever fall victim to cyber attacks, outages, or data loss incidents. Why?

• Cyber attacks are more frequent, and more automated
• Remote working setups are often poorly protected
• Teams are under pressure, and mistakes happen
• Many businesses don't regularly test their recovery plans - if they have one at all

The average SME in the UK now experiences over 30 cyber incidents per year. And it's not always a "hack" - it might be an accidental file deletion, a server crash, or a ransomware email that almost got clicked.

Cyber resilience isn't about defence - it's ab out speed and confidence in your response.

The Core Elements of a Cyber Resilience Plan

Here's what we recommend every business should have:

1. Backups (that actually work)

• Daily backups of your data - stored securely off-site or in the cloud
• Regularly tested recovery (not just "we think this works")
• Clear roles: who restores, when, and how

2. Incident Response Plan

• What happens if something goes wrong?
• Who takes the lead?
• How do you communicate with staff and clients?

Write it down. Test it every 6-12 months.

3. Basic Cyber Hygiene

• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on all key accounts
• Up-to-date antivirus and device patching
• Email filtering and phishing simulations
• Clear user policies (especially around bring-your-own-device and remote work)

4. Partner Support

• An MSP or IT support partner like Apex who knows your setup and can react quickly
• Ideally with 24/7/365 monitoring, so issues get caught before they become crises

Think of It Like Business Insurance - But Faster

You hope you never need it. But when you do, it makes all the difference. Cyber resilience is about keeping your business running, even when things go wrong. It's about protecting your reputation, maintaining customer trust, avoiding panic, and sleeping better at night.

Not Sure Where to Start?

You don't have to build a full resilience strategy overnight. Start with these three steps:

1. Ask your IT provider when your last backup test was
2. Create a simple incident response checklist
3. Schedule a quick cyber healthcheck - did you know Apex offer these for free?

At Apex, we help businesses across Greater Manchester prepare for the 'what-ifs' - so they're never caught off guard.

We'll help you:

• Audit your current setuo
• Build or improve your backup and response plans
• Train your team
• Sleep a little easier