Why network infrastructure has become the foundation of cyber resilience
For years, cybersecurity conversations have focused on firewalls, endpoint protection and threat detection. While these technologies remain essential, a growing number of organisations are recognising a more fundamental reality: cyber resilience depends on the strength of the network underneath it all.
As organisations become increasingly cloud-connected, network infrastructure has become a strategic component of cybersecurity.
Our recent research report, Trust in a Connected World, found that improving connectivity performance is now the top IT priority for UK organisations over the next two years, with upgrading network infrastructure also ranking among the highest priorities.
This shift reflects a changing technology landscape and a growing understanding that resilience begins with strong foundations.
Cloud adoption has changed the security equation
Modern organisations operate in highly distributed environments – employees work across multiple locations, applications run in public cloud platforms, and critical data moves between offices, cloud services and remote users.
The research shows:
39.6% of organisations are primarily public cloud
38% operate hybrid cloud environments with private connections
Only 4% remain mostly on-premise
Among larger organisations, hybrid cloud has become particularly dominant, with 65.2% of organisations employing between 2,500 and 4,999 people using hybrid cloud with private connections.
As cloud adoption increases, organisations become increasingly dependent on the pathways connecting users, applications and data.
When those pathways fail, cyber incidents quickly become business disruptions.
Visibility remains a major challenge
One of the most striking findings from the research is the growing importance of visibility. Across organisations, lack of visibility across networks is a significant challenge. Among larger organisations, more than half cite it as a concern.
This creates several problems:
Slower incident detection
Delayed investigations
Inconsistent policy enforcement
Increased operational complexity
Longer recovery times
Simply put, organisations cannot protect what they cannot see. Even where organisations recognise the value of integrated security platforms and network resilience, many still struggle to achieve consistent visibility across complex estates.
This is particularly evident in large organisations managing multiple sites, cloud services and distributed workforces.
The connection between network resilience and customer trust
Cyber resilience isn't only about keeping attackers out – maintaining services when something goes wrong is just as critical.
The research found that network outages caused by cyber attacks have become increasingly common, with 28.4% of organisations reporting attack-related outages.
At the same time, customer expectations continue to rise.
Our research shows UK adults expect:
Strong network security
Advanced cybersecurity protection
Reliable digital services
Rapid recovery from disruption
Most importantly, they expect services to stay available. Customers rarely distinguish between a cyber incident and a service outage. If a service becomes unavailable, trust can be damaged regardless of the technical cause.
This is why network resilience has become such a critical component of cybersecurity strategy.
Building resilience through better foundations
The strongest cyber resilience programmes increasingly focus on foundational capabilities rather than isolated security tools.
That includes:
1. Improving connectivity performance
Reliable connectivity reduces operational risk and helps maintain service continuity during periods of disruption.
2. Strengthening visibility
Centralised monitoring and greater visibility across networks enable faster detection and response.
3. Securing cloud connectivity
Private and secure connections to cloud environments can help reduce risk while improving performance and control.
4. Standardising policies
Consistent security policies across sites, users and applications reduce complexity and improve resilience.
5. Eliminating single points of failure
Resilient architectures minimise the likelihood that one issue can cause widespread disruption.
Cyber resilience is now an infrastructure conversation
Cybersecurity and network infrastructure are increasingly inseparable. The organisations best prepared for future threats are not necessarily those investing in a single security technology. They are the organisations creating resilient, visible and reliable environments that can continue operating under pressure.
As cyber incidents become more frequent and customer expectations continue to rise, network infrastructure is moving from the background to the centre of cybersecurity strategy. Because in a cloud-connected world, genuine resilience is built on the foundations that keep everything connected.
Get the complete findings on network resilience, visibility and what it takes to stay connected in Trust in a Connected World.