When infrastructure fails: Lessons from power outages and cyberattacks in Europe

When power systems failed across Spain and Portugal, and a major cyberattack disrupted retail operations in the UK, the headlines focused on outages, service delays, and economic impact. But behind the noise was something quieter, and more consequential: a wide-ranging test of resilience across borders and affecting multiple sectors.

Infrastructure failures of this scale don’t just disrupt business continuity, they expose the assumptions beneath it. Plans based on idealized conditions quickly become irrelevant when the grid goes dark or systems go silent. And the real question isn’t "how fast did we recover?" but rather, "how prepared were we to operate when nothing worked as expected?"

Cascading failures Are not theoretical
These events reinforced a hard truth: disruption is rarely isolated. A cyberattack doesn’t just affect digital assets, it impacts logistics, communications, customer trust, and internal decision-making. Similarly, a power failure isn't just a utility problem; it can paralyze supply chains, shutter operations, and break critical dependencies we don’t notice until they fail.

Resilient organizations recognize that these are not discrete risks. They are layered, interconnected systems that fail together; the response must therefore be equally integrated.

Coordination beyond boundaries
One of the quiet successes in these responses came from rapid coordination across borders and sectors. When public and private entities shared real-time information, responded with aligned priorities, and communicated clearly with the public, trust was preserved.

Resilience is not just internal. It’s a function of the relationships you’ve built before a crisis—and how quickly you can activate them under pressure.

Rethinking critical systems
These incidents prompt a reassessment of what we consider "critical infrastructure." It's not just physical utilities or IT platforms. It's the operational rhythms, data flows, and interdependencies that keep your organization functional.

If you haven’t mapped what breaks when something breaks, now is the time.

The real test is cultural
Ultimately, your infrastructure can only be as resilient as the people managing it. When systems go down, improvisation, clear thinking, and values-driven decisions matter more than binders. Culture, not protocol, shapes your organization’s ability to adapt in real time.

Conclusion: Design for reality, not ideal conditions
Infrastructure failure is no longer hypothetical. It’s a recurring feature of an intricately interconnected world. Your resilience depends not on avoiding disruption, but on designing for it. That means testing interdependencies, investing in people, and building muscle memory that endures when systems don’t.

Do your continuity plans assume ideal conditions? If so, it's time for a rethink. Let's talk about how to design for disruption, not just recovery.