From Policy to Proof: PIPA and the Cyber Resilience Wake-Up Call

As 2025 comes to an end, Bermuda marks almost a year since the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) came fully into force. Many businesses have now established privacy policies, appointed data officers, and started the compliance journey. But as cyber threats continue to rise, it’s clear that paper compliance is not enough.
Real protection comes from cyber resilience — the ability to prevent, withstand, and recover from attacks.

Policies Don’t Stop Breaches — Resilience Does

Too many organisations mistake policy documents for security. Policies outline intent; resilience proves capability. True resilience means your systems, networks, and infrastructure are tested, audited, and verified by qualified third parties — not just reviewed internally.

Businesses cannot “mark their own homework.” Independent, accredited audits uncover weaknesses, confirm controls are working, and demonstrate accountability under PIPA. Without this verification, it’s impossible to know whether your defences hold up under pressure.

Cyber Standards That Prove It, Not Just Promise It

PIPA sets the privacy rules, but cyber resilience standards — like Cyber Baseline and Cyber Assurance  — measure your ability to defend against real-world attacks.
These frameworks go beyond legal compliance. They verify whether you can detect, respond, and recover from incidents through a technical audit of your infrastructure and operational security practices.

Certification under these standards sends a clear message to clients, regulators, and partners: this organisation doesn’t just talk about security — it proves it.

The Data: Threats Are Escalating

The global threat landscape is changing fast:

• Organisations now face an average of 1,925 attacks per week, up 47% year-on-year.
• 91% of successful breaches begin with a phishing email.
• The average cost of a breach reached US $4.67 million in 2025.
• Over 2,200 cyber attacks occur daily, globally.
• Companies that achieved baseline certifications reported 76% taking further security improvements after accreditation.

These are not abstract numbers — they reflect what’s happening to real businesses every day. The majority of these attacks exploit basic weaknesses: unpatched systems, poor access controls, weak passwords, or unchecked suppliers.
All of these are areas directly addressed by structured frameworks like Cyber Baseline and Cyber Assurance.

Continuous Compliance: Monthly Vulnerability Assessments

Cyber resilience isn’t static. Systems change, new threats emerge, and attackers adapt.
That’s why ongoing compliance must include monthly vulnerability assessments.

Regular scanning and review:

• Identify and prioritise weaknesses before they become entry points.
• Support PIPA compliance by demonstrating continuous risk management.
• Provide actionable data for IT and leadership to strengthen defences.
• Build resilience over time, making attacks harder to execute and quicker to contain.

Monthly assessments turn compliance from a once-a-year exercise into a living process. They prove that an organisation is not only compliant but actively defending itself — every month of the year.

Don’t Forget the Supply Chain

Your business is only as secure as the partners you rely on. The last 12 months have shown that supply-chain attacks can cripple entire sectors.
Every third party that handles your data or connects to your systems must be held to the same security standards.

Vet them. Verify them or Veto Them.

Insist on certifications or independent audits.
Ignoring supplier risk undermines every other layer of your cyber defence.

The Way Forward for Bermuda

2026 must be the year that Bermudian businesses move from policy to proof.
That means:

• Independent audits — not self-assessment.
• Recognised cyber standards — not internal checklists.
• Ongoing monitoring — not once-a-year reviews.
• Verified suppliers — not assumptions.