Regulators increasingly expect organisations to prevent, withstand, respond to and recover from cyber incidents.
Cybersecurity has shifted from being a technical best practice to a governance and regulatory expectation, especially in sectors that provide critical services or handle sensitive information. Financial institutions in particular face increasing expectations around cybersecurity, cyber resilience, incident response, third-party risk and recovery capability.
This shift is important because cyber resilience is broader than preventing attacks. It asks whether the organisation can continue operating, make informed decisions during disruption, restore trusted services and demonstrate that controls are implemented and monitored.
Why this matters
Regulated organisations and their suppliers should not wait for a supervisory review or incident before assessing readiness. Policies are important, but they are not enough. Management should be able to produce evidence of governance, risk assessments, control operation, testing and remediation.
What management should consider
- Define executive accountability for cybersecurity and cyber resilience.
- Maintain an updated cyber risk assessment linked to business services.
- Test incident response, backup recovery and crisis communication arrangements.
- Monitor third-party and outsourced service provider cyber risks.
- Track remediation of control weaknesses and unresolved vulnerabilities.
- Report meaningful cyber resilience metrics to governance structures.
- Maintain evidence that policies, procedures and controls are implemented in practice.
Common pitfalls to avoid
Confusing policy approval with control implementation.; Leaving regulatory cyber readiness until a review or incident.; Failing to keep evidence that controls are operating..
Key takeaway
Cyber resilience is not achieved through policy documents alone. Organisations need evidence that controls are operating, tested and improved.
Practical first step
Perform a readiness gap assessment against applicable cyber resilience expectations and convert gaps into an accountable remediation plan.
How Nexia SAB&T can assist
Nexia SAB&T can assist with cyber resilience readiness reviews, regulatory cyber gap assessments, incident response assessments and cyber governance maturity reviews.
Author details: Rob Galetti | IT Audit and Cybersecurity | Nexia SAB&T
Date: 19 August 2026
