Why cyber resilience matters to Devon businesses

For Devon businesses, a technology failure can quickly mean lost income, delayed work and disappointed customers, writes Sarah Bailey, Head of Marketing at Nexus Open Systems.

A hotel cannot take bookings. A manufacturer loses access to its order system. A solicitor cannot retrieve a client’s documents.

The recent PHP vulnerability is a reminder of how much everyday business depends on technology working quietly in the background. It also raises a question: do you know who is responsible when something goes wrong?

PHP is a programming language behind many websites and business applications, including platforms such as WordPress. You may never have heard of it, but your organisation could rely on it through a website, customer portal or supplier.

Whether you run a professional services firm in Exeter, a manufacturing business in Mid Devon or a tourism business on the coast, understanding those dependencies matters.

Who actually owns the problem?

Consider your company website. Your business owns the domain, your IT provider manages the DNS, a hosting company runs the server and a digital agency maintains the website.

When a critical vulnerability appears, who checks whether you are affected? Who applies the update? Who confirms the work is complete?

Those responsibilities need to be clear before an incident happens.

At Exeter-based Nexus Open Systems, our response included reviewing potential exposure across managed customer systems, checking internet-facing domains and developing detection tools. Where potential exposure was identified, customers were contacted so the relevant provider could investigate and act.

The exercise reinforced five lessons for Devon businesses.

Five practical takeaways

1. Know what your business relies on.

Record your critical websites, applications and suppliers, including services managed externally. Think beyond office IT: booking platforms, payment systems and customer portals all support your ability to trade.

2. Make responsibility clear.

Identify who maintains each system, applies security updates and coordinates the response to a vulnerability. A longstanding relationship with a supplier is valuable, but responsibilities still need to be explicit.

3. Check that updates have worked.

Updates can fail, devices can go offline and some fixes require a restart. Verify that the vulnerability has been addressed, rather than assuming an automated update was successful.

4. Prepare for disruption.

Could you manage arrivals without your booking system, dispatch goods without your usual software or contact clients without email? Agree practical alternatives before you need them.

5. Keep investigating after patching.

Closing a vulnerability does not establish whether someone already exploited it. Further investigation and monitoring may be needed.

Protecting the business behind the technology

For a seasonal business, disruption during a busy week can be particularly costly. For a smaller team, even a short outage can leave everyone struggling to catch up.

Ageing software adds another challenge. If a critical system no longer receives security updates, the business needs a plan to replace it before a failure forces the decision.

Effective cyber resilience combines visibility, vulnerability scanning, verified patching, regular security testing and ongoing monitoring.

Devon business leaders should be able to answer three questions: What do we depend on?Who is responsible for securing it? How do we know that protection is working?

If the answers are unclear, that is a useful place to start your next conversation with your IT provider.

Nexus Open Systems is headquartered in Exeter and supports businesses across Devon and the South West with managed IT and cyber security. Find out more at nexusos.co.uk.