Insights
Commentary on UK incidents and what they actually mean for organisations of your size. No scare tactics, no vendor pitches dressed as analysis.
Recent articles
Schools are recovering faster. Prevention has barely moved.
Ofqual's survey has schools recovering far faster, up from 55% to 66%. Incidents barely moved. Where the gain came from, and the 9% worth taking to governors. October 2026
Why two Cyber Essentials quotes differ when the fee is published
The assessment fee is published and banded by headcount, so the gap between two quotes is never the certificate. What it actually is, and where the money goes. October 2026
What clients ask recruitment agencies before the PSL
Clients now send the security questionnaire before the pitch, not after the win. What they ask, and the three answers agencies get wrong. October 2026
Why cyber advice does not fit Shropshire businesses
Guidance assumes an office, an IT department and a budget. Farms, workshops and market-town firms get told to do things that do not apply to them. October 2026
Your PII proposal form now asks about MFA
Renewal has become a cyber questionnaire, the answers are warranties rather than opinions, and a good number of firms are answering yes to things that are not quite true. October 2026
Security awareness training mostly fails. What to run this October instead.
Most awareness training tests recall when the skill is reasoning. What actually works for Cyber Security Awareness Month, and the half of the job awareness cannot do. October 2026
What clients now ask accountancy practices about security
Clients and insurers now send accountancy practices security questionnaires. What they ask, why it lands on you, and what a small practice can evidence cheaply. September 2026
Penetration testing for ISO 27001: what the auditor actually expects
ISO 27001 never names penetration testing. Here is what an auditor really wants as evidence, how ISMS scope should drive test scope, and if it must be CREST. September 2026
What CREST AI-Enabled Penetration Testing actually covers
CREST's AI-Enabled accreditation covers how a provider uses AI in its own testing, not the testing of AI systems. Why buyers confuse the two, and what to ask. September 2026
No, DCC Level 1 does not require Cyber Essentials Plus
A widely repeated claim about Defence Cyber Certification is wrong. What Def Stan 05-138 Issue 4 actually says, and why the error spread. September 2026
Solusec is now an IASME Certification Body, and why that matters for you
We now certify Cyber Essentials, IASME Cyber Assurance and Defence Cyber Certification Level 0 directly, with no reseller in the middle. September 2026
The DCC Level 0 deadline: what defence suppliers must do before 31 December 2026
The MoD has asked all industry partners to reach Defence Cyber Certification Level 0 by the end of 2026. Here is how to be ready. September 2026
DCC vs Cyber Essentials: how the two fit together
They are different schemes that work together. What each covers, how they relate, and which you actually need. September 2026
Cyber Essentials v3.3: what changed in April 2026, and why it matters
MFA is now an automatic fail, cloud is always in scope, and critical updates must land within 14 days. What the v3.3 update means for your certification. September 2026
43% of UK businesses were breached last year, and the basics still are not in place
The 2025/2026 Cyber Security Breaches Survey found around 612,000 businesses hit, yet only about 5% hold Cyber Essentials. September 2026
AI is lowering the bar for attackers. Here is what it means for you
The ICO has warned that AI is shrinking the gap between a weakness and an attack. Why that raises the value of the basics and of testing. September 2026
DCC Level 0: the Cyber Essentials deadline is approaching fast
The MoD has asked defence suppliers to reach DCC Level 0 by 31 December 2026, with Cyber Essentials as the prerequisite. September 2026
The truth about a “guaranteed” Cyber Essentials pass
No honest assessor can promise a pass regardless of your controls. September 2026
Is a guaranteed Cyber Essentials pass safe?
Only if the guarantee comes from getting your controls genuinely in place. September 2026
The dangers of cheap or instant Cyber Essentials
What tends to be quietly missing, and what it can cost you. September 2026
How to spot a genuine Cyber Essentials assessor
Green flags, red flags and three questions to ask. September 2026
Beware the ‘100% pass rate’ with Cyber Essentials
Why a 100% Cyber Essentials pass rate can be a warning sign, not a selling point. September 2026
Been hacked? BEC and the common attacks to know
What Business Email Compromise and the common attacks look like, and what to do if you are hit. September 2026
Why your MSP is not the best judge of your cyber security
Why marking their own homework means your MSP is not the right judge of your security. September 2026
Solusec achieves CREST AI-Enabled Penetration Testing accreditation
We’re among the first firms accredited under CREST’s new AI-Enabled Penetration Testing standard: faster, sharper testing with responsible AI you can trust, and independent proof of it. September 2026
What the 2026 attacks on UK education actually tell us
A government department, a county council and a primary school, all inside three months. The pattern is not sophistication, it is dwell time and shared infrastructure. August 2026
The Companies House flaw, and why accountancy practices should care
Director data for five million UK businesses was reachable by anyone with a login. For practices, the interesting part is what it says about data you do not control. August 2026
Make UK: one in three manufacturers hit, and the line stops
New research puts the figure at 30% in twelve months. The JLR shutdown showed what happens when an IT compromise reaches the plant floor. August 2026
2,300 breach reports to the SRA, and 47 interventions
The regulator is no longer treating cyber as an IT matter. What the enforcement pattern says about where firms are actually failing. August 2026
The GitHub breach, and what it means if you build software for clients
Around 4,000 private repositories exfiltrated, starting from one poisoned editor extension on one laptop. If you hold client code, this is your threat model. August 2026
Common questions
Do you write about your own clients' incidents?
No. Everything here is drawn from public reporting, and we do not comment on work we have done or clients we have worked with, in any identifiable form.
Why not name every organisation involved?
Where an incident is widely reported and the organisation is large, naming it is normal editorial practice. Where the victim is small, we describe the pattern rather than make an example of them. Being breached is not evidence of negligence and we do not write as though it is.
Can I reuse this analysis?
Yes, with a link back. If you would like a version written for your own members or clients, ask.
Related
Free, no obligation
Understand your exposure
An attacker’s first move is not an attack, it is a look. So we look first, and send you what we find, worst first.
- Services and ports you did not know were open
- Security misconfigurations on anything public facing
- Known vulnerabilities already indexed by engines like Shodan
- Company credentials sitting in known breach data
The only question is: do you know where and how to look?
We reply within one business day. Prefer to talk first? 01902 288763 or info@solusec.co.uk.
Nothing is touched on your systems. It is all public and already indexed, just scattered. We pull it together, which is what an attacker does first.
Ready to talk?
Scoping conversations are free and there is no sales team to get past. Tell us what you're dealing with and we'll tell you honestly what you need.