15/06/2026
Anne Keast-Butler, Director of GCHQ, doesn’t mince her words. She told businesses to act immediately rather than wait for guidance to mature, framing cybersecurity as a matter of national defence rather than an IT concern.Her message was blunt: “However good all of us are, there will be attacks. So what happens when that happens to your company? Have you really tested that? Are your plans printed on paper somewhere in case all of your systems really go down? How will you communicate with each other if you’re completely reliant on the system that you shut down?”
This isn’t scaremongering. This is the head of Britain’s intelligence agency telling you, directly, that it’s coming. The question is whether you’re ready.
What does “not ready” actually look like?
Look at Jaguar Land Rover.
A cyber attack effectively shut down the company and its suppliers for more than a month, costing the British economy an estimated £1.9 billion. Factories stopped. Employees were sent home.
The head of GCHQ says cyber attacks are inevitable. Jaguar Land Rover lost £1.9bn. What would it cost your UK business if you weren't ready?