Building a resilient digital future for Greater Manchester

By David Taylor, founder and Managing Director of Aruga Cyber

Cyber security is no longer just an IT issue; it’s a business resilience issue. As organisations become more connected, the risks they face are becoming more complex. But that doesn’t mean the solutions have to be.  

Research shows that 43% of UK businesses experienced a cyber incident in the past year. Yet, only 36% have a formal cyber security policy, and 32% have a continuity plan that covers cyber incidents. These figures highlight a clear gap between awareness and action, and that’s something we’re determined to help close.  

High-profile cyber attacks have made this even more urgent. Jaguar Land Rover was hit with a breach that halted vehicle production for weeks and disrupted its supply chain, putting thousands of jobs at risk. Around the same time, hackers targeted a UK nursery chain, exposing and publishing children’s personal data. These incidents show that whether you are a global manufacturer or a local business, no organisation is immune, and the consequences can be devastating.  

At Aruga Cyber, we believe that strong cyber resilience should be within reach for every organisation, no matter the budget. That belief led us to develop the Cyber Compass assessment tool, a free, interactive resource designed to help businesses quickly understand how secure they really are.  

The assessment can be completed in under 20 minutes and gives a clear snapshot of an organisation’s cyber posture - what’s working well, where improvements can be made, and the practical steps leaders can take to strengthen resilience.  

Built around globally recognised NIST and CIS 18 frameworks, Cyber Compass benchmarks cyber maturity and provides a personalised report with actionable recommendations. Fast, practical and free, it gives organisations a clear view of their cyber resilience in minutes.  

As a veteran-founded company, service and protection are at the heart of everything we do. Drawing from my background in the Royal Navy, I wanted to create something that reflected those same values: making cyber security accessible, proactive and focused on helping others. Too often, cyber services are reserved for large organisations. With Cyber Compass, our goal is to level the playing field, giving every business the insight and tools to understand and mitigate its risks.  

The Cyber Compass tool builds on the same principles that underpin our managed Security Operations Centre (SOC), bringing visibility, speed and practical action together. In a recent engagement with a UK utilities provider that has a distributed workforce of over 3,000 users, our team deployed complete monitoring within five days and reduced incident response times to just over a minute. That experience showed how combining automation with human insight can transform resilience, and we wanted to make that same capability accessible to every organisation through Cyber Compass.  

For many smaller organisations, traditional cyber assessments can be time-consuming and expensive. Cyber Compass changes that by making the process simple, fast and accessible. It gives every business leader the clarity they need to take action with confidence.  

This is another vital step in our mission to help businesses strengthen their security and stay resilient. When every organisation understands its risks and can respond effectively, we build a stronger, safer digital ecosystem for everyone.  

Greater Manchester is already leading the way. The region secured 49% of all UK external cyber security investment in 2024, reflecting the strength of its growing cyber ecosystem and collective ambition to be one of the most secure and digitally inclusive places to do business in the UK.