In our latest guest blog, we hear from CyberNorth member, Jenny Wilkinson from Rule 28.
When Cyber Heroes Save the Day: Aligning Technical Superpowers with Business Continuity & Resilience
In a world where cyber threats lurk behind every digital corner, IT and cyber security professionals often get cast as the superheroes of modern business. No capes or flashy costumes – just keyboards, firewalls, and a never-ending stream of alerts. But beyond the drama of “saving the day” from ransomware attacks or data breaches lies a far more crucial mission: ensuring that critical business operations keep running smoothly, no matter what chaos erupts.
The Real Superpower: Teamwork Across Departments
True superheroes don’t work alone – and neither do the finest cyber professionals. The greatest power comes not just from patching security vulnerabilities or restoring locked-down systems, but from aligning cyber strategy, incident response and disaster recovery with business continuity and operational resilience frameworks and capabilities. This means that when the unthinkable happens, the entire business – not just IT – is ready to respond, adapt, and keep the lights on.
That’s where well-crafted, cross-department exercises become invaluable. Bringing together areas such as IT, procurement, HR, communications, and operations teams in a shared experience of simulated crisis. Think of it like assembling the Avengers of your organisation, where each colleague plays a critical role in the collective defence and recovery strategy.
Why Cross-Department Testing Matters
Imagine a ransomware attack hits at 10 am on a busy Monday. The cyber and IT team leaps into action to contain the threat and recover data. Meanwhile, the communications team must craft timely and accurate messages to customers and regulators. Procurement might need to rapidly secure alternative suppliers, while operations activate manual procedures to ensure critical services don’t grind to a halt.
Without the experience and knowledge gained from cross-functional exercises, teams can struggle to communicate, collaborate, and prioritise effectively. Exercises simulate these scenarios in a safe environment, ensuring criticality is understood, spotlighting gaps and strengthening connections, so when the “real deal” hits, your business operates like a finely tuned superhero squad.
The Serious Underside of Heroism
While it’s fun to imagine cyber professionals as lone crusaders with superpowers, solving all technology impacts with a click of their fingers, the reality is that resilience requires serious planning, collaboration, and continuous testing. Cyber incident response, disaster recovery, and business continuity aren’t separate silos – they must be tested as a cohesive whole to ensure the business can survive even the most disruptive cyber threats.
By exercising these plans together, organisations understand how critical each department is, driving home that resilience is everyone’s responsibility – not just IT’s. This mindset shift is the core of operational resilience and the ultimate “superpower” that protects businesses, employees, and customers alike.
Ready to Assemble Your Team?
If there’s one takeaway: don’t wait for the villains to strike before building and testing your superhero team.
Effective response and recovery is rooted in clearly defined roles and responsibilities, with a shared understanding of what can be realistically achieved – and in what timeframes. Cross-department exercises bring together areas such as procurement, HR, communications, operations, and IT to practice responding to incidents. These simulations reveal the critical interdependencies, clarify how quickly actions can be taken, and strengthen communication pathways. Like a well-coordinated superhero squad, your organisation can respond swiftly and effectively across functions – ensuring that when disruption hits, what’s critical to your business keeps going.
After all, real heroes prepare before the crisis, train together, and show up ready to save the day.
If you need help, ask Rule28
Rule28 offers practical, engaging exercise packages designed to help your organisation test and strengthen its cyber response alongside business continuity and resilience.
Our cross-department simulations foster collaboration and real-world readiness, making sure your teams are prepared to respond together when disruption strikes.
Visit www.rule28.co.uk to explore our exercise packages and discuss how we can support your resilience journey today.