It’s been a week of apologies in UK retail. For many inside these organisations, this wasn’t just an IT story. It was a high-stress, high-stakes moment that likely disrupted routines, strained teams, and tested leadership under pressure. If you tried to order from M&S recently and couldn’t, or noticed the Co-op cutting off parts of…
Author: Sevgi Aksoy
Resilience Begins at the Root: Reclaiming the Regional in Cybersecurity
In cybersecurity, scale has become our default lens — we chase global frameworks, monitor international threat actors, and speak of networks as if they transcend geography. But in doing so, we risk forgetting that every global structure is only as resilient as its smallest unit. The local is not a footnote in cybersecurity. It is…
The Quiet Responsibility of Being Seen
There is something both humbling and quietly profound about being seen—not just for what you do, but for what you represent. As a psychologist and founder working in cyber resilience, I often think about what visibility means in high-stakes, digital-first environments. Whether in the aftermath of a cyber incident, during a tense stakeholder meeting, or…
Bridging Minds and Space: Psychological Insights from the ‘Innovation Incoming in Space’ Event
Attending the Royal Academy of Engineering’s “Innovation Incoming in Space” event on 31 March 2025 at Prince Philip House was an enlightening experience that underscored the intricate relationship between technological advancement and human psychology in the realm of space exploration. Human Factors in Space Exploration As space missions extend in duration and distance, the psychological…
Post-Breach Psychology, Part 2: Psychological Spillover — How Breach Narratives Impact Team Dynamics, Morale, and Unspoken Hierarchies
In the aftermath of a cybersecurity breach, technical recovery tends to dominate leadership attention. Containment is actioned. Systems are scanned. Logs are reviewed. But beyond the perimeter of operational response, a more subtle shift takes place—one that lingers in meetings, Slack threads, and hallway conversations. Narratives begin to form. These narratives—about who was responsible, what…
Post-Breach Psychology, Part 1: Access Aftermath
Understanding the subtle behavioural consequences of identity lockdown In the immediate aftermath of a cybersecurity breach, the organisational response tends to follow a well-rehearsed script. Incident response teams isolate the threat. Logs are analysed. Communications are drafted. And almost without fail, one area receives immediate tightening: access. Identity and Access Management (IAM) controls are reconfigured….
Cyber Calling: The Regional Momentum of UK Cyber & the Human Factor in Resilience
Cybersecurity Is No Longer Just a London Game. For years, London has dominated the UK cyber conversation, attracting investment, talent, and policy influence. But the momentum is shifting—and fast. The West Midlands is emerging as a major cyber powerhouse, with funding, policy backing, and industry engagement moving beyond the capital into the regions where cybersecurity…
Psyber Mondays: NCSC for Startups Ends, But Cyber Innovation Continues
Reflections from the very last #NCSCForStartups Alumni Showcase. 🚀 Celebrating the Legacy of NCSC for Startups Two weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending the final #NCSCForStartups Alumni Showcase—a moment to celebrate the impact of an initiative that has shaped the UK’s cybersecurity startup ecosystem for years. NCSC for Startups has been a game-changer,…
Women in Cyber: The Strength You Don’t See Coming (Women’s Day Special)
Cybersecurity has always been seen as a battlefield of technical defences—firewalls, encryption, AI-driven threat detection. But what if the real strength in cybersecurity isn’t just in the technology, but in the people behind it? And what if some of the most impactful contributions are coming from a group that’s still widely underestimated? Women in cybersecurity…
Cyber Resilience and the Power of Remembering: Learning from Organisational Trauma
In Berlin, symbolic gravestones mark the trauma of the Holocaust. In Bosnia, bullet-ridden buildings and war museums preserve the memory of past conflict. These reminders serve a crucial purpose: ensuring that history is not forgotten, that mistakes are not repeated, and that resilience is built through collective reflection. But what if organisations treated cyberattacks in…