Cyber Resilience in Retail: Building Robust Defence Systems and Insurance Strategies That Actually Work.

June 2025

The recent wave of cyberattacks targeting UK retailers has sent shockwaves through the industry, leaving business owners scrambling to assess their vulnerability and insurance coverage. As cyber criminals become increasingly sophisticated, the question is no longer whether your business will be targeted, but how well prepared you are to defend against and recover from an attack.
Drawing on expert insights from our global partner, Willis Towers Watson’s (WTW), recent analysis and the practical experience of seasoned insurance professionals, we’ll explore the steps retailers must take now to protect their operations and ensure adequate financial protection.

Retail cyberattacks: How to better protect your business and boost cyber resilience

Cyberattacks against UK retailers have put the industry on high alert. How can you be better prepared, bounce back better if you are hit, and check whether your cyber security insurance programme is adequate?

To help protect your retail business, in this Q&A, WTW’s cyber risk and retail industry specialist Teresa Long answers your most urgent questions following the recent cyberattacks targeted at businesses in the retail sector.

Q: Can my business avoid being hit by cyberattacks?

A: While avoiding cyberattacks altogether may be unrealistic, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has issued some useful guidance on best practice precautions. In summary, the NCSC recommends businesses should:

• Deploy multi-factor authentication (MFA) across your organisation, which reduces the risk of unauthorised access by adding an extra layer of verification that makes it harder     for attackers to compromise accounts. Enhance monitoring against unauthorised account misuse. 
• Pay special attention to employees with higher-privilege access to your IT infrastructure, including domain admin, enterprise admin and cloud admin accounts, and checking      their access is legitimate
• Review helpdesk password reset processes — IT helpdesks are increasingly targeted in search of credentials to penetrate organisation networks, so, in addition to regular          training, having a robust policies and processes on verifying employees' identities is essential
• Identify logins from unusual sources
• Monitor threat intelligence in real time and respond rapidly to alerts. Any suspicious activity can signal unauthorised network access. You need to be vigilant over possible social engineering attacks, which impersonate help desk interactions to infiltrate your organisation's IT systems.
• You should also regularly revoke active sessions (meaning users have to authenticate themselves regularly for continued access to IT systems) and identify when individuals have created suspicious accounts.

Q: If a cyberattack hits your business, how can you restore operations quickly?

A: Developing and regularly testing a robust incident response plan can help minimise the impact of any cyber incident and restore your operations quickly.
Your incident response plan should set out how you define a 'cyber incident,' as well as the procedures for identifying and reporting them. Your plan should also include processes for containing incidents to prevent further damage and outline steps to restore systems. It should also establish how you plan to learn lessons from any cyber incident.
While no simulation can fully replicate the pressure associated with a real crisis, cyber incident workshops can prove vital in testing your incident response plans. In particular, testing and simulations can help key decision-makers identify any issues with cybersecurity or gaps in planning, which they can then address to help the business recover rapidly after any incident.

Q: Are you insured against the types of losses emerging from the cyberattacks recently impacting retailers?

A: The answer here will depend on the specifics of your coverage and the circumstances of any attack. However, based on publicly available material, the spate of cyberattacks against retailers would ordinarily fall within the scope of a typical cyber security insurance policy (although other non-cyber policies might also contain some form of coverage for the impacts following a cyberattack).
If you're not clear on the scope of cover and whether it's fit for the intended purpose, now is the time to stress-test it. Are there any gaps and what measures can you take to plug them?

Q: Is the amount of UK business insurance you've purchased adequate?

A: Even if you evaluate your type of cover as fit-for-purpose, you should also assess the adequacy of your limits against all the potential financial implications of cyberattacks, for example, business interruption, ransom payments and notification costs.
Underinsurance not only presents a balance sheet problem but may also leave your directors exposed to shareholder actions. Boards can face allegations of failure to ensure robust IT systems or inadequate handling of cyber risk, which can include failure to maintain adequate cyber insurance.

Q: Do you understand the cyber risks most likely to impact your business and the financial damages you could face?

A: Identifying and quantifying your specific cyber risks is the first step to finding the most efficient way to mitigate them. Cyber risk quantification analytics that use industry and organisation-specific scenarios can give you a detailed picture of the financial consequences of cyber incidents. With this insight, you can plot a course to the most effective and efficient combinations of risk controls, transfer and insurance limits.
The cyber insurance market is more competitive than in recent years, meaning now's a good time to investigate your options. To understand and ensure your cyber risks more effectively, or to strengthen your incident response planning, get in touch with our cyber risk and retail industry specialists our insurance brokers in Nottingham.

Insurance Coverage: Understanding What You Actually Need

The insurance implications of recent retail cyber attacks reveal opportunities and potential pitfalls for business owners. Whilst most cyber insurance policies ordinarily cover the types of losses emerging from recent attacks, the specifics of coverage and circumstances create significant variations in protection levels.
Understanding your coverage scope requires more than reading policy documents. It demands stress-testing your insurance against realistic attack scenarios. This process often reveals gaps between assumed protection and actual coverage, highlighting areas where additional measures might be necessary.
The adequacy of insurance limits presents an equally critical consideration. Even comprehensive coverage becomes inadequate if limits fall short of potential financial implications. Business interruption costs, ransom payments, and notification expenses can rapidly escalate beyond anticipated levels, leaving businesses vulnerable despite having insurance.
Underinsurance creates problems that extend beyond immediate financial exposure. Directors face potential shareholder actions when cyber incidents reveal inadequate preparation or insurance coverage. Board members can face allegations of failing to ensure robust IT systems or inadequate cyber risk handling, including failure to maintain appropriate cyber insurance levels.

The WTW Networks Advantage: Professional Expertise When It Matters Most

Working with experienced insurance professionals who understand cyber risks and retail operations provides crucial advantages during both preparation and crisis phases. Clarke Dove as founder members of WTW Networks, professional brokers with over four decades of experience in providing expert insurance advice on an impartial basis, coupled with an in-depth understanding of insurance markets and the latest products available.
The WTW Networks membership provides access to a panel of leading global and specialist insurers, enabling brokers to offer clients a wide choice of cover at competitive rates. 
This professional relationship proves particularly valuable when assessing cyber insurance adequacy. Experienced brokers can evaluate coverage against specific business risks, identifying potential gaps before they become critical vulnerabilities. 
More importantly, when cyber incidents occur, established broker relationships facilitate faster claims processing and more favourable settlements. Strong relationships with insurers and loss adjustors enable brokers to negotiate speedy, equitable claims settlements, putting them in the best possible position to aid client recovery.

Risk Quantification: Making Informed Protection Decisions

Understanding specific cyber risks requires moving beyond generic threat assessments to a detailed analysis of your particular vulnerabilities and potential financial consequences. Cyber risk quantification analytics using industry and organisation-specific scenarios provide detailed pictures of economic implications, enabling informed decisions about risk controls, transfer mechanisms, and insurance limits.
This analytical approach transforms cybersecurity from a cost centre into a strategic business function. Rather than implementing security measures based on fear or compliance requirements, businesses can make evidence-based decisions about the most effective combinations of risk controls and insurance coverage.
The competitive nature of today's cyber insurance market creates opportunities for businesses willing to invest in proper risk assessment and mitigation. Insurers increasingly reward organisations that demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of their cyber risks with better terms and broader coverage options.

Taking Action: Your Next Steps

The cyber threat landscape demands immediate action rather than continued planning. Begin with a comprehensive assessment of your security posture, focusing on the fundamental controls identified by the National Cyber Security Centre. Multi-factor authentication, monitoring systems, and incident response planning form the foundation upon which more sophisticated defences can be built.
Simultaneously, evaluate your insurance coverage with experienced professionals who understand both cyber risks and your specific industry challenges. This evaluation should stress-test your coverage against realistic attack scenarios, identifying gaps that require immediate attention.
Remember that cyber resilience extends beyond technology solutions to people, processes, and partnerships. When incidents occur, the most sophisticated security systems fail without proper training, robust procedures, and professional support.

Today the retail sector faces unprecedented cyber challenges, but businesses that take comprehensive action now, combining robust security measures with appropriate insurance coverage, can survive attacks and emerge stronger and more competitive. The key lies in recognising that cyber resilience represents a strategic business advantage rather than merely a compliance obligation.

In this rapidly evolving threat landscape, the question isn't whether you can afford to invest in comprehensive cyber protection—it's whether you can afford not to.

To book your Cyber Insurance Review, contact you account manager, email us enquiry@clarkedove.co.uk or telephone us on 0115 962 0855.