Why Cyber Security Is Now a Board-Level Priority for SMEs

When Jaguar Land Rover's production lines went dark in September 2025, the £5 million daily losses sent shockwaves far beyond the automotive sector. The incident - alongside similar disruptions at Marks & Spencer and Asahi Group Holdings - signals a new reality for organisations of all sizes: cyber resilience has become inseparable from operational resilience, financial performance and long-term value creation.

For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the implications are particularly acute. With 43% of UK businesses reporting cyber incidents in the past year and recovery costs averaging £8,000 per breach, the question facing leadership teams is no longer whether to invest in cybersecurity, but how to build proportionate, sustainable defences that protect both operations and strategic objectives.

Three Forces Reshaping the Cyber Landscape

1. The Democratisation of Cyber Risk

The notion that only large enterprises face material cyber threats has been comprehensively dismantled. Government data shows that 42% of UK SMEs experienced attacks in 2024, with phishing implicated in 84% of identified breaches. More concerning, research suggests up to 60% of smaller firms fail within six months of a significant incident - a stark indicator that cyber events are now existential, not merely operational, risks.

The sophistication gap is narrowing as well. Attackers increasingly deploy AI-enhanced social engineering, exploit zero-day vulnerabilities and pursue "double extortion" models that combine encryption with data exfiltration. For resource-constrained organisations, this evolution demands a fundamental rethink of security posture.

2. Supply Chain Interdependencies as Vulnerability Multipliers

The JLR incident exposed a critical dynamic: cyber risk propagates through ecosystems. When JLR's systems were compromised, suppliers - many of them SMEs - faced cash flow crises within weeks, prompting a £1.5 billion government intervention to stabilise the broader network.

Similarly, the Marks & Spencer breach, potentially channelled through third-party provider Tata Consultancy Services, illustrates how perimeter security is increasingly meaningless when value chains are digitally interconnected. For SMEs serving larger organisations, a single breach can trigger contract terminations, insurance claims and reputational damage that cascade across customer relationships.

3. The Governance Gap

Perhaps most troubling is the persistent misalignment between cyber risk and executive oversight. Approximately 39% of UK SMEs provide no cybersecurity training to staff, and incident response planning remains inconsistent across the sector. When breaches occur - as they did at Marks & Spencer, where contactless payments and online ordering were disabled for days - the absence of tested playbooks amplifies both financial and reputational damage.

This governance deficit extends to insurance. JLR had not finalised cyber coverage at the time of its attack, whilst M&S discovered that policy exclusions limited recovery of its estimated £300 million profit impact. These examples underscore a broader reality: many organisations lack clear ownership, accountability and preparedness at board level.

A Framework for Proportionate Cyber Resilience

Drawing on cross-sector analysis, we identify six dimensions where SME leadership can build material improvement without disproportionate investment:

1. Risk Intelligence and Asset Mapping Establish a clear inventory of critical systems, data flows and access pathways. Prioritise protection based on business impact, not technical complexity. Organisations that understand their crown jewels can allocate resources more effectively and respond faster when incidents occur.

2. Foundational Controls and Hygiene Implement multi-factor authentication, enforce least-privilege access, segment networks and maintain rigorous patching protocols. These are not aspirational practices - they are table stakes. The majority of breaches exploit known vulnerabilities that remain unaddressed due to operational inertia.

3. Third-Party and Supplier Assurance Formalise due diligence processes for vendors and partners. Require evidence of security controls, conduct regular reviews and build contractual protections that clarify liability and breach notification. In interconnected ecosystems, your security posture is only as strong as your weakest integration point.

4. Workforce Capability and Culture Security awareness training must evolve beyond annual compliance exercises. Leading organisations embed "stop and verify" behaviours through simulations, role-based education and leadership modelling. Human vigilance remains the most adaptive defence layer.

5. Incident Readiness and Response Capability Develop, document and test response protocols. Identify escalation thresholds, pre-approve communication templates and establish relationships with forensic, legal and public relations specialists before an incident occurs. Speed of response directly correlates with containment effectiveness.

6. Strategic Insurance and Financial Resilience Treat cyber insurance as part of a broader risk transfer strategy. Understand policy exclusions - particularly around business interruption, reputational harm and regulatory fines - and ensure coverage aligns with realistic loss scenarios. Insurance is a financial buffer, not a substitute for preparedness.

Strategic Implications for Leadership

Cyber resilience is fundamentally a governance challenge, not a technology problem. Boards and executive teams must recognise three imperatives:

Integrate cyber risk into enterprise risk management. Cyber threats cannot be siloed within IT departments. They intersect with financial planning, operational continuity, compliance obligations and stakeholder confidence.

Align investment with business priorities. Security spending should be calibrated to protect revenue-generating capabilities, customer relationships and contractual commitments - not driven by vendor roadmaps or technical preferences.

Build resilience as competitive differentiation. In an environment where breaches are increasingly public and consequential, demonstrable security maturity can become a market signal. Clients, partners and investors are beginning to factor cyber preparedness into due diligence and procurement decisions.

How Rodan Supports Strategic Cyber Resilience

Rodan brings a systems integration and advisory perspective to organisations seeking proportionate, business-aligned cybersecurity. Our approach combines:

• Risk assessment and roadmap development aligned with operational realities and growth objectives

• Technology selection and integration that balances protection, usability and sustainability

• Governance frameworks and supplier risk management tailored to sectoral context

• Capability building through training, simulation and response exercise facilitation

• Insurance readiness and claims preparation to optimise risk transfer strategies

We work with SMEs and mid-market organisations to embed resilience that protects value, enables growth and strengthens stakeholder confidence.

Looking Ahead

The cyber threat landscape will continue to evolve in sophistication and scale. For SMEs, the choice is not whether to respond, but how deliberately and strategically to build resilience before the inevitable test arrives.

Organisations that treat cybersecurity as a core component of operational excellence - rather than a compliance burden - will be better positioned to navigate disruption, protect reputation and sustain competitive advantage in an increasingly interconnected economy.