Keep It Simple….

It’s easy to get focused on the complex, high-tech threats—AI-driven attacks, zero-days, and quantum-resistant crypto. But a recent warning from the head of GCHQ (one of the United Kingdom’s intelligence and security agencies) brought things back to a critical, analog reality. The advice? Keep paper copies of your crisis plans. It sounds almost archaic, but it’s a powerful gut check for every leader.

When an attacker pulls the plug, or ransomware locks up your entire digital environment, where is your incident response plan? If it’s on a server you can’t reach, it’s just a useless file. This is the real test that separates a theoretical security program from a truly resilient business.

This advice isn’t just about paper; it’s a forcing function to think through a true “lights-out” scenario. How does your team communicate when Slack and email are down? What are the first 10 calls you make, and do you even have the numbers? If your team can’t access their procedures, you’re not responding; you’re just reacting.

We spend fortunes on cutting-edge prevention, but true resilience is often decidedly low-tech. Take a minute and ask your team: If the screens all went black right now, would we really know what to do?

#cybersecurity #incidentresponse #CISO #leadership #resilience #businesscontinuity #crisismanagement