Cyber attacks can sometimes seem like a distant or highly technical threat. But behind every successful attack is a sequence of events. An attacker needs to find a way in, gain access, and ultimately achieve their objective. What happens between those points can vary significantly and understanding that journey is an important part of building effective cyber security.
According to the latest UK Government Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025/2026, 43% of UK businesses reported experiencing a cyber security breach or attack in the previous 12 months. Phishing remained the most commonly reported type of attack, affecting 38% of businesses. So, how does an attack actually unfold?
It starts with an opportunity
Attackers are constantly looking for opportunities to gain access to organisations. That might involve targeting a vulnerable system, compromising an account, sending a convincing phishing message or exploiting another weakness in an organisation’s environment. The initial route in can look very different from one attack to another. What matters is that getting through the first layer of security is often only the beginning.
Once inside, the picture can change
An attacker who gains an initial foothold may attempt to understand the environment around them. They may look for information about systems, users, accounts and the organisation’s wider infrastructure. From there, they may attempt to gain additional access or move towards the systems and information that are valuable to them. This is one reason why cyber security cannot simply be about protecting the perimeter. The National Cyber Security Centre recommends organisations take a layered approach to security, including managing vulnerabilities, protecting identities, monitoring systems and preparing for incidents.
The attacker doesn’t necessarily need everything
A common misconception is that an attacker needs complete control of an organisation to cause serious damage. In reality, the impact of an incident can depend on what they are able to access and what happens next. A compromised account, for example, could potentially provide access to systems or information that the attacker can use to progress further. This is why organisations need to understand not only where their security controls are, but how those controls work together.
Detection matters
The sooner suspicious activity is identified, the sooner an organisation can investigate what is happening. The NCSC highlights the importance of logging and monitoring as part of an organisation’s ability to detect and investigate security incidents. But detection isn’t simply about having more alerts. Organisations need to understand what normal activity looks like, identify meaningful indicators of compromise and have a process for investigating unusual behaviour. Without that visibility, activity can go unnoticed until the consequences become much more obvious.
What happens when prevention doesn’t work?
This is where cyber resilience comes in. Good cyber security should aim to prevent attacks wherever possible. But organisations also need to consider what happens if something gets through. The latest Government survey found that only 25% of businesses had a formal incident response plan in place. Having a plan means an organisation doesn’t have to work everything out for the first time during an incident. It means understanding how an incident will be managed, who needs to be involved and how the organisation will respond. The NCSC recommends regularly exercising incident response plans so that organisations can identify weaknesses before they are faced with a real incident.
Understanding the attack is part of understanding the risk
Cyber security isn’t just about knowing which technologies you have deployed. It’s about understanding how an attack could develop within your environment.
- Where could an attacker gain access?
- What might they be able to reach?
- Would you know if something unusual was happening?
- And how quickly could your organisation respond?
These are important questions because you can’t properly protect what you don’t understand. The more organisations understand about how attacks happen, the better positioned they are to identify weaknesses and strengthen their defences.
See how an attack can unfold
Reading about cyber attacks is one thing. Seeing how they actually happen is another. At our event ‘Inside The Next Breach’, Syscomm will take you beyond the theory and explore what happens when an attacker gets in, drawing on real-world experience from more than 220 ransomware recoveries.
Join us on 14 October 2026 at the Crystal Maze LIVE Experience in Manchester for a practical look at the realities of a cyber attack, followed by a challenge designed to put your own problem-solving skills to the test.
