Sanjay Kumar Mohindroo
Learn how to embed cyber resilience into business continuity planning and why it’s now a boardroom imperative for modern CIOs and CTOs.
When Continuity Meets Cyber Chaos: A Leadership Imperative
In the middle of a boardroom review, our cloud infrastructure went dark. Ransomware had slipped through despite layered security, audits, and assurances. Our operations didn’t just slow—they froze. That day, I realized business continuity isn’t just about backup servers and off-site recovery. It’s about cyber resilience.
For every CIO, CTO, or digital transformation lead, this isn’t theoretical—it’s existential. As global IT leaders, we’ve built infrastructures robust enough to scale. But are they resilient enough to withstand disruption and bounce forward?
In a world defined by zero-day threats, geopolitics, and AI-powered attacks, this post is both a reflection and a provocation: Let’s rethink resilience, not as insurance, but as a proactive arm of strategy.
Cybersecurity Isn’t Just an IT Problem. It’s a Business Survival Problem.
We live in a world where digital infrastructure is the business. Not a support system. Not a backend. The core. That means every system downtime, data breach, or ransomware strike is a threat to cash flow, credibility, and competitiveness.
Boards are waking up to this reality. Cyber risk is now ranked as the top business risk globally (Allianz Risk Barometer 2024). Regulators demand accountability. Customers demand trust. And investors expect preparedness.
If you're a CIO navigating digital transformation or a CDO redesigning operating models, this conversation must move beyond compliance. You’re not just defending data—you’re protecting continuity. You're ensuring your business can survive a cyber hit and emerge stronger.
That’s the real job now: embed cyber resilience within business continuity, not beside it. #CyberResilience #DigitalTransformationLeadership #CIOPriorities
The Cyber Threatscape Has Changed. Has Your Planning Kept Up?
Frequency of Attacks is Exploding: A cyberattack happens every 39 seconds. In 2023, the average cost of a data breach globally rose to $4.45 million (IBM). And most chilling? Nearly 83% of businesses will experience at least one breach in their lifetime.
Shift from Perimeter to Persistence: Threat actors no longer aim for one-off attacks. They aim for persistence—staying embedded, undetected. Your continuity plan must now account for dwell time as well as downtime.
AI is a Double-Edged Sword: AI is being weaponized just as quickly as it is being deployed for detection. Deepfake phishing, synthetic identity fraud, and generative attack content are rising sharply.
Cloud-Native Doesn’t Mean Disaster-Resistant: With over 90% of enterprises now multi-cloud or hybrid-cloud, dependency sprawl is real. One cloud misconfiguration can collapse your entire architecture.
Regulators are Watching: From India’s CERT-In directives to the EU’s NIS2, resilience is becoming a statutory requirement. Reporting timelines are shrinking. Non-compliance can mean multimillion-dollar penalties.
The takeaway? Traditional business continuity plans (BCPs) that focus on natural disasters or infrastructure failure are no longer enough. Your BCP must now start with cyber threats and scale from there.
#ITOperatingModelEvolution #DataDrivenDecisionMaking
Three Realizations That Changed My Cyber Playbook
Cyber isn’t a department. It’s a Culture. You can buy the best EDR tools and firewalls, but if your people don’t internalize a security mindset, you’ve already lost. Building resilience is about embedding awareness across every function—from finance to field ops.
Downtime ≠ Disaster. Inaction Does: It’s not the breach that breaks a company—it’s how unprepared you are to communicate, recover, and continue delivering value. Speed matters. So does transparency.
Simulations Are Strategic, Not Cosmetic: Too many simulations are checkbox exercises. We ran one where legal, marketing, and supply chain sat out. Never again. True resilience comes when everyone trains under fire.
Practical tip? Run an unannounced drill next quarter. Include your PR agency, your top client’s rep, and someone from HR. The results will surprise you, and teach you more than a dozen workshops.
#EmergingTechnologyStrategy #LeadershipInTech
The R.I.S.E. Framework: Embedding Cyber Resilience into Continuity
R – Risk Scenario Mapping: Go beyond traditional BIA (Business Impact Assessment). Map potential cyber-led disruptions—from DDoS to ransomware to insider sabotage. Run tabletop exercises tailored to each scenario.
I – Integrate Cyber into BCP: Ensure your Business Continuity Plan doesn’t just mention cybersecurity—it has cyber at its core. Integrate SOC playbooks, breach communication protocols, and critical asset restoration timelines into one unified plan.
S – Stakeholder Alignment: Align the board, the CISO, the CIO, and business unit leaders. Use real-time dashboards to visualize risks. Ensure shared accountability—not just shared anxiety.
E – Evolve Through Feedback Loops: After every incident or simulation, capture learnings. Feed them back into policy, architecture, and training. Resilience isn’t static—it adapts.
This framework can be deployed by CIOs looking to modernize their IT operating model without creating additional silos.
#CyberLeadership #BCPReimagined #CIOPlaybook
A Global Logistics Giant’s Ransomware Recovery: In 2022, a major logistics company was hit with ransomware that encrypted 65% of its operational systems across 17 countries. What saved them?
§ A cyber-integrated BCP that included backup power for data centers and offline shipping manifests.
§ Real-time customer updates via API-integrated dashboards.
§ Cross-trained staff who could switch to manual operations within 24 hours.
They didn’t just recover. They retained client trust.
Indian BFSI Player’s Internal Threat Drill: An Indian banking major ran a red team simulation that revealed gaps in how business units communicated during cyber incidents. The result?
§ Creation of a Business Resilience Council.
§ Integration of Slack and ticketing systems into incident response workflows.
§ Monthly simulations with cross-functional leaders.
What emerged was not just faster recovery but deeper interdepartmental trust—a benefit beyond cybersecurity.
#ITGovernance #BusinessContinuityInsights
What Got Us Here Won’t Get Us There
Cyber threats will only grow in volume, velocity, and variability. Tomorrow’s threat might not be a virus—it might be misinformation. Or a deepfake CFO voice. Or AI-generated financial statements that fool auditors.
Business continuity must evolve into Business Resilience. Cyber resilience must evolve into Strategic Resilience.
Here’s what you can start doing today:
Ask your board: “What’s our RTO for a ransomware hit?”
If they can’t answer, you have your next priority.
Include your top customers in your continuity planning.
Resilience isn’t just internal—it’s ecosystem-wide.
Create a culture of response, not just reaction.
Invest in storytelling, crisis communication, and response muscle.
And finally, let’s treat cyber resilience not as a compliance checkbox but as a competitive differentiator. Because in the digital era, the resilient win, not the largest.
Let's keep this conversation going. What are you doing in your organization to build cyber resilience into your business DNA?