By Harpreet Sidhu, Giovanni Cozzolino and Yusof Seedat Cyberattacks can no longer be prevented entirely, making resilience, not protection, the defining leadership challenge. This article argues that CEOs must shift from protection to resilience by identifying the essential operating core and rethinking compliance, recovery, governance, value-chain risk and the true economics of cyber disruption today. Europe’s cyber threat landscape has changed dramatically since 2022. What began as cyber operations linked to the Russia–Ukraine conflict has evolved into a persistent campaign targeting critical infrastructure, including hospitals, energy networks, transportation systems and financial institutions. The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity, ENISA, reports that both the volume and consequences of attacks increased during 2023 and 2024.[1] Its 2025 threat assessment documented nearly 4,900 incidents across the region.[2] In an era of escalating attacks and digital interdependence, complete prevention is no longer achievable. Leaders are aware of this fact. In our February–March 2026 survey of 329 senior executives across the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, almost 70% said preventing all cyber disruption is no longer realistic given today’s complex technology ecosystem. Europe’s exposure to cyber threats is amplified by its deeply integrated cross-border supply chains, with manufacturers, logistics providers, financial institutions and critical service operators bound together across multiple jurisdictions. An attack on one central provider impacts every organization across its network. Rapid AI adoption is accelerating this vulnerability. AI increases the speed, scale and interconnectedness of digital operations, creating new pathways for disruption while making recovery more complex and accelerating the path from compromise to business impact. When a critical partner fails, the consequences ripple through the value chain regardless of where the failure originated Yet many European companies continue preparing for a world in which attacks can largely be prevented or quickly contained. In our research 82% of executives expect critical