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28 November 2025 / Jack Morris
Issue: 8141 / Categories: Features , Profession , Cyber , Cybercrime , Technology , Risk management
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This is a drill!

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Cyber resilience goes beyond documentation. Businesses should stress-test their response in real time, writes Jack Morris
  • Paper-based cyber response strategies often collapse in real incidents; real-time adaptability is essential.
  • Simulations sharpen instincts—immersive tabletop exercises train teams to make fast, coordinated decisions under stress.
  • These drills empower legal teams, boost insurer confidence and turn organisations into proactive cyber defenders.

When a cyberattack strikes, the disruption is immediate and the clock starts ticking. Whether it’s ransomware, data exfiltration or denial-of-service, organisations don’t have the luxury of leafing through manuals. Every second counts and every decision matters.

Despite the increasing frequency and sophistication of cyber threats, many companies continue to place their trust in static, paper-based cyber incident response (CIR) plans. These documents may satisfy regulatory checkboxes, but in the heat of a live breach, they often prove inadequate. Plans that look watertight on paper can unravel in practice, especially when legal teams, IT and the board are suddenly thrust into a high-pressure, high-stakes environment.

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Keystone Law—Milena Szuniewicz-Wenzel & Ian Hopkinson

Keystone Law—Milena Szuniewicz-Wenzel & Ian Hopkinson

International arbitration team strengthened by double partner hire

Coodes Solicitors—Pam Johns, Rachel Pearce & Bradley Kaine

Coodes Solicitors—Pam Johns, Rachel Pearce & Bradley Kaine

Firm celebrates trio holding senior regional law society and junior lawyers division roles

Michelman Robinson—Sukhi Kaler

Michelman Robinson—Sukhi Kaler

Partner joins commercial and business litigation team in London

NEWS
The Legal Action Group (LAG)—the UK charity dedicated to advancing access to justice—has unveiled its calendar of training courses, seminars and conferences designed to support lawyers, advisers and other legal professionals in tackling key areas of public interest law
As the drip-feed of Epstein disclosures fuels ‘collateral damage’, the rush to cry misconduct in public office may be premature. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke of Hill Dickinson warns that the offence is no catch-all for political embarrassment. It demands a ‘grave departure’ from proper standards, an ‘abuse of the public’s trust’ and conduct ‘sufficiently serious to warrant criminal punishment’
Employment law is shifting at the margins. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ this week, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School examines a Court of Appeal ruling confirming that volunteers are not a special legal species and may qualify as ‘workers’
Criminal juries may be convicting—or acquitting—on a misunderstanding. Writing in NLJ this week Paul McKeown, Adrian Keane and Sally Stares of The City Law School and LSE report troubling survey findings on the meaning of ‘sure’
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has narrowly preserved a key weapon in its anti-corruption arsenal. In this week's NLJ, Jonathan Fisher KC of Red Lion Chambers examines Guralp Systems Ltd v SFO, in which the High Court ruled that a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) remained in force despite the company’s failure to disgorge £2m by the stated deadline
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