Could your business cope with a day offline?

Swindon’s businesses depend on digital connections. As Cyber Circle Swindon brings people together at Workshed, there is a timely conversation to have about protecting them.

The first sign might be an email you cannot open. A customer calling about a payment you never requested. Or a shared folder that has suddenly become inaccessible.

Then come the questions. Can anyone still access the orders? Who looks after the backups? How do we contact customers if the details are stored in the system we cannot get into?

For a small business, those questions can quickly become the whole working day.

Cyber security has an image problem. The language can feel remote from the concerns of someone running a design studio, managing a shop or building a consultancy. Yet the things it protects are familiar: income, customer relationships, working time and trust.

For Swindon’s business community, that makes it a conversation worth having before something goes wrong.

A business issue close to home

The government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025/2026 found that 43% of UK businesses identified a cyber breach or attack during the previous year. Among small businesses, the figure was 46%. These figures include attempted attacks, rather than only incidents that caused damage, but they underline how routinely businesses encounter the threat.

Consider how much of an ordinary working day relies on a handful of accounts. Email. Banking. Bookings. Customer records. The software used to create, approve and deliver work.

A useful starting point is to ask what would happen if one of those services became unavailable tomorrow morning. Which jobs would stop? What could continue? Who would know what to do?

Those are questions a business owner can begin discussing with their team and technology provider without needing to become a security specialist.

Swindon is building the connections

At Workshed, within Carriage Works, Cyber Circle Swindon has created a place for these wider conversations about security, technology and working life.

Founded by Sidra Mobeen, the community brings together experienced practitioners, business leaders, students and people exploring a change of career. Its launch in April attracted more than 50 attendees, demonstrating an appetite for making those connections here in Swindon.

There is practical value in having that expertise within reach. An informal conversation can help someone identify a question they had overlooked, understand an unfamiliar term or feel more confident asking their supplier for an explanation.

For independent businesses and small teams, opportunities to compare experiences can be particularly useful. Working for yourself should not mean having to work everything out for yourself.

Start with what matters most

The National Cyber Security Centre’s guidance for small organisations focuses on accessible steps: securing email and important accounts, protecting devices, backing up data and recognising potential attacks. It also stresses that responsibility should be shared across the team.

That provides a manageable starting point for a conversation at work. Which accounts are essential? Who has access? Where is important information backed up? Does everyone know how to raise a concern?

The aim is to understand the business well enough to protect the things it depends on, and to have a clearer response if something does happen.

Better decisions before the pressure arrives

That principle also connects with Cyber Circle Swindon’s next event at Workshed.

On Thursday 26 November 2026, from 6pm, its Career Pivot Tabletop will apply a method borrowed from cyber incident preparation to decisions about working life. Participants will explore realistic career scenarios in small groups, examining options and challenging assumptions before committing to a next step. No previous cyber security experience is required.

The subject is careers, but the connection is clear: preparation improves when people bring different experiences to the same problem.

For Swindon, that is the opportunity in a growing local cyber community. More people asking useful questions, sharing knowledge and building relationships before they urgently need an answer.

Find out more and book the Career Pivot Tabletop, or explore events at Carriage Works.

Photo: Avtar Singh / Unsplash.

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