2025 saw a marked shift in the cyber security landscape. The profession was propelled into the public discourse more than any other year in recent memory, as high-profile breaches made front-page news for weeks, if not months.
Cyber crime is no longer background noise, or an abstract technical issue, but a recurring national conversation. For cyber security professionals across the CIISec community, this represents a turning point. It’s no secret that cyber security is a high-pressure job, but last year that pressure was amplified.
The ramifications of attacks on organisations like Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) were felt far beyond security and IT teams. UK car production slowed to the lowest level since 1952, rippling through the supply chain and costing the UK economy more than £2bn. At the same time, British institution M&S experienced prolonged disruption as inventory and ordering systems were taken offline. Alongside these incidents, rapid advances in AI added to the strain on security teams. Attackers gained speed and scale, while defenders faced new risks around data access, automation and control.
Regulation added another layer of complexity. Frameworks like DORA, the EU AI Act and UK Cyber Resilience Bill kept businesses braced for change, while rising geopolitical tensions increased the risk of nation-state activity targeting the UK.
To make matters worse, our 2025 State of the Profession research also found 84% of security professionals believe security budgets are increasing more slowly than the threat level, with only 5% saying funding is keeping pace — a challenge many CIISec members recognise from their own organisations.
As a profession, cyber security is facing pressure from multiple directions. And it’s in this context that the UK Government has released its new Cyber Action Plan, with cyber security framed as an integral part of national resilience, no doubt informed by the events of 2025. This is good news for the profession and an important shift in tone and ambition as the country looks forward.
The plan’s early priorities are promising, including the establishment of a dedicated Government Cyber Unit, closer engagement with the CISO community and expanded cyber uplift support. Encouragingly, the word ‘collaboration’ was referenced 23 times in the report, echoing the theme of CIISec LIVE 2025 and reinforcing that no organisation or individual can address cybersecurity alone.
The attacks on JLR and M&S made clear how cyber incidents rarely stop at organisational boundaries. And if organisations suffer collectively, they must also defend collectively. Whether collaboration happens between companies, public and private sector bodies or internal teams, the ability to share insight and act together is vital to security.
On behalf of its members, CIISec has long championed a more connected profession, where threat intelligence, remediation tactics and lived experience are shared openly to strengthen collective resilience. Turning that principle into everyday practice will be essential if the ambitions of the Cyber Action Plan are to translate into real-world improvement rather than policy alone.
But collaboration cannot stop at technology or process. As pressure on the profession continues to rise, it must also extend to supporting the people dealing with incidents in real time. That’s why partnerships such as CIISec’s work with PTSD Resolution matter, reminding CIISec members that support and mental health training are available, and that no one in the profession has to shoulder these challenges alone.
In 2026, the profession — supported by membership bodies and practitioners — must ensure the lessons of last year’s breaches translate into sustained investment, clearer accountability, deeper collaboration and a more open, supportive ethos across cyber security. If those elements come together, the next major incident will test the sector but will not catch it flat-footed.
