The Cyber Attack That Didn’t Win: SME Lessons That Matter

Could Your Business Survive a Cyber Attack? Learn From a Real-Life SME Case Study

In spring 2025, Oxfordshire-based Strategic HR consultancy SYLO Beyond HR Ltd faced every SME’s nightmare: a cyber attack. This came just weeks after high-profile breaches brought down household names like Marks & Spencer and the Co-Op.

The shocking part? SYLO was already Cyber Essentials certified and took data security seriously. So how did this happen? How was the attack handled? And what can other SMEs learn to protect themselves?

This unique Panel Discussion Event will bring together the key people who experienced this incident firsthand, to share the full story and their lessons learned. While the attacker will not be present, the panel will feature:

• Lynsey Willis, Head of Client Delivery, SYLO Beyond HR
• Sarah Stevens, Managing Director, SYLO Beyond HR
• Tom Windle, Senior Technical Engineer, Trinity Managed Services
• Hosted by Ant Parsons, ALP Synergy Ltd & Enterprise Oxfordshire

Attendees will gain exclusive insights into:

• How to spot, double-check, and triple-check risky emails
• What really happens during a live cyber incident
• How an organised SME responded under pressure and what they would do differently
• Key IT recommendations to strengthen future resilience
• The opportunity to ask your own cyber security questions

If you run or manage an SME, this event is an invaluable chance to learn from a real and recent case study, not theory but lived experience.

Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA) scheme

The Growth Hub programme operates a Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA) scheme. All SMEs which receive support under this programme are being aided under the UK Subsidy Control Act (2022) and The Subsidy Control (Gross Cash Amount and Gross Cash Equivalent) Regulations (2022 No. 1186).

MFA allows a beneficiary to receive up to £315,000 of Subsidy over a three-fiscal year period (i.e. the current and previous two fiscal years). The value of MFA given is the gross cash amount or the gross cash equivalent of the subsidy. The MFA value of this webinar is £361.70.

At the end of each financial year, we are required to tell you the total amount of support you have received from Enterprise Oxfordshire. By signing up to the event you are consenting to us holding your data in line with our Enterprise Oxfordshire Privacy policy to allow us to do this. We will only send promotional emails about new products, special offers or other information which we think you may find interesting if you opt in to marketing.