Cybersecurity resilience

Given the escalating threat landscape, what are Polish businesses doing to enhance their cybersecurity defences and ensure data protection?
Cyberattacks have become one of the most serious challenges facing businesses in Poland. They are no longer unusual one-off events but a constant risk that every organisation must address. Recent figures illustrate the scale of the problem. In 2024, 83% of Polish companies reported experiencing at least one cyber incident, according to KPMG’s Cybersecurity Barometer. At the same time, CERT Polska recorded more than 600,000 reports of online threats, with phishing – fraudulent emails, calls and text messages designed to steal data – the most common. These numbers underscore a clear reality: protecting data and ensuring digital resilience are no longer optional but essential for survival.

Building stronger technology foundations
Polish companies are beginning with the basics. Multi-factor authentication is increasingly required for account access, sensitive files are encrypted more widely, and regular software updates close gaps that attackers might exploit. Businesses are also maintaining offline backups of critical data, kept separate from everyday systems and tested regularly to ensure rapid recovery in the event of ransomware. Continuous monitoring of networks is becoming standard practice, allowing suspicious activity to be identified before it causes significant damage.

Establishing clear rules and plans
Technology alone cannot deliver resilience. Companies are also formalising rules and procedures for managing incidents. Many now have playbooks with step-by-step instructions for responding to an attack, which are tested in practice to confirm their effectiveness. Business continuity and recovery plans are increasingly common as well, ensuring that critical functions – such as customer service or financial transactions – can continue with minimal disruption even when core systems are compromised.

Empowering employees
Most successful attacks exploit human error rather than technical flaws. Criminals rely on persuading employees to click on malicious links, open infected attachments or disclose confidential information. As a result, businesses are devoting more attention to their people. Training sessions, awareness campaigns and phishing simulations are widespread, with the goal of helping staff recognise suspicious messages and fostering a culture where reporting threats is quick, routine and responsible – never viewed as a mistake.

Treating security as an investment
The most significant change is one of mindset. Cybersecurity was long regarded as an additional cost; today, more organisations view it as a strategic investment that safeguards reputation, customer trust and competitiveness. By combining robust technology, clear governance and engaged employees, companies are steadily strengthening their ability to withstand and recover from attacks.

Resilience as a journey
The threat landscape will continue to evolve, as will the methods used by cybercriminals. Resilience, therefore, cannot be treated as a one-off project but as an ongoing process. Businesses that continue to invest in technology, processes and people will be best positioned to protect their data, maintain stakeholder confidence and remain resilient in the digital economy.