LIMA Elevate 2026 brought together IT leaders and LIMA partners including Microsoft and security specialists CYSIAM for a day of insights and honest conversation about AI adoption.

Here are the six things that stood out.

1. Most businesses are still in experimentation mode

Less than 5% of UK mid-market businesses are truly “frontier” firms, with widespread AI adoption. Most have tried things, seen some results, but haven’t made it past the pilot stage. That’s simply where most companies are right now. The important thing is understanding why, and what it takes to move forward.

2. The foundations matter more than the tools

This came up from every speaker independently. If your data is messy, your processes aren’t documented, or your security posture isn’t solid, an AI project will struggle regardless of which tools you choose. Getting the basics right isn’t the exciting part, but it’s the part that determines whether this works.

3. This is a business transformation, not an IT project

Perhaps the clearest message of the day. AI adoption affects your people, your processes and your customers. It needs executive buy-in, HR involvement, and clear communication with staff about what’s changing. Businesses that treat it as purely a technology decision tend to find that the technology never gets properly adopted.

4. The threat landscape is evolving fast

Dave Allen from CYSIAM made the case that attackers are already using AI to make phishing more convincing, automate reconnaissance, and move faster through compromised networks. Supply chain remains the most overlooked risk. The software vendor, the outsourced contractor, the cheap piece of hardware bought outside of IT. Becoming more digital and becoming more secure need to happen together.

5. Start with the problem, not the tool

The businesses getting the most from AI right now started by identifying areas of friction in their operations. It might be processes that take too long, the tasks that happen on repeat or handovers that regularly break down. They then asked whether AI could help. The ones struggling tend to have done it the other way around.

6. The workforce question doesn’t have a neat answer yet

One of the big talking points of the day was about talent development and pipeline. If AI takes on first-line work, where does the next generation of experienced people come from – whether that’s in an MSP or in a law firm?

Every panellist acknowledged this as a real concern. Nobody had a complete answer. It’s worth thinking about how your organisation will approach it now, rather than later.

Want to continue the conversation?

If you were at LIMA Elevate 2026 and want to pick up where we left off – or if you missed it and want to talk about the next steps on your AI adoption journey – we’d love to hear from you.

Learn more about LIMA’s Agentic AI workshop offer.

Contact the team at 0345 345 1110 or enquiries@lima.co.uk

]]> https://lima.co.uk/lima-named-one-of-the-uks-best-workplaces-for-development-2026/ Thu, 21 May 2026 10:03:17 +0000 https://lima.co.uk/?p=7416 We’re delighted to announce that LIMA has ranked 88th in the Great Place to Work® list of the UK’s Best Workplaces for Development™.

The UK’s Best Workplaces for Development List recognises companies making employee development a key part of company culture. These workplaces offer employees the chance to better themselves, to learn new skills, and to progress within the organisation. They understand that development is not one-size fits all, and they actively support every single employee to undertake their own tailored journey of growth.

LIMA’s inclusion on this list officially acknowledges our commitment to development, innovation and employee growth. Over the past three years we have introduced development initiatives and policies to solidify our commitment to employee development including technical training partnerships with University Academy 92 (UA92), MEDPICC training for our sales team, and leadership training for our people managers.

To compile the UK’s Best Workplaces for Development List, Great Place to Work® reviewed LIMA’s culture, benefits, and approach to leadership and development, alongside anonymous responses from our team. 

They then used these data insights to benchmark our company’s employee value proposition against the culture our employees experience. Only the businesses who achieve the highest scores after evaluation receive Best Workplaces™ status.

From our anonymous employee feedback, we can see that overall our team highly commends our dedication to ongoing learning, individual growth, and the culture of knowledge exchange across our business.

LIMA CEO Danny Masters said: “Learning and development is something everyone claims to prioritise and few actually deliver on. I’ve seen it across different industries and throughout my career. Staff don’t get the time, the budget doesn’t materialise, or it becomes the first thing cut when things get busy. We’ve worked hard at LIMA to make sure that doesn’t happen. Technology changes constantly, and if your people aren’t staying ahead of it, you can’t give your customers the service they deserve. Being recognised externally for something we’ve committed to internally is a proud moment and shows we’re delivering on our promises.”

Benedict Gautrey, Managing Director of Great Place To Work® UK, commented: “A strong approach to development is inherently forward‑looking. It reflects an investment in long-term potential, helps people feel recognised for who they are and what they can become, and reinforces a positive, inclusive workplace culture. Each year, we’re proud to recognise organisations that create environments where both people and businesses flourish – and meaningful learning opportunities are central to that success.”

“Congratulations to LIMA for being part of our 2026 UK’s Best Workplaces for Development List.”

We’re extremely proud of this achievement and look forward to using the valuable insights Great Place To Work has provided us with to build on our culture and employee satisfaction.

To be part of a team that values personal development, check out our current vacancies.

Contact the team at 0345 345 1110 or enquiries@lima.co.uk

The Cyber Essentials criteria are reviewed every year. IASME and the NCSC take on board feedback from assessors, learnings from breach investigations and findings from their own audit programme, and update the requirements accordingly. Most years the changes are relatively minor. The 2026 update is different.

The five core controls haven’t changed. But the marking criteria, scope rules, assessment process and several supporting requirements all have.

Some of the changes carry real consequences if you’re not prepared. They apply to all assessment accounts created after 27th April 2026.

Here’s what you need to know.

MFA on cloud services is now an auto-fail requirement

Multi-factor authentication for cloud service accounts has moved from a recommendation to a hard requirement. From April 2026, if MFA is available on any cloud service in scope and you haven’t enabled it, your assessment fails automatically.

This applies to all users and all cloud services, regardless of whether MFA is a free feature or requires a paid add-on. If it’s available, it’s required. No exceptions.

Two patch management questions are now auto-fail

Patch management has always been at the heart of Cyber Essentials. But two specific questions are now set to auto-fail status:

• Are all high-risk or critical security updates and vulnerability fixes for operating systems, router and firewall firmware installed within 14 days of release?
• Are all high-risk or critical security updates and vulnerability fixes for applications (including associated files and extensions) installed within 14 days of release?

Previously, failing these questions meant a failed assessment that could be remediated and resubmitted. As of April 2026, failing either question triggers an immediate automatic failure and resets the assessment clock entirely.

This is the kind of pressure that makes the case for a managed approach to vulnerability remediation – ensuring patches are automatically applied for you within CE+ timelines as a matter of course, rather than scrambling to meet them.

“Point in time” now means the date your certificate is issued

Cyber Essentials has always been described as a point-in-time assessment, but what that point means in practice has been open to interpretation. The point in time is now formally defined as the date the certificate is issued, not the date you complete or submit your questionnaire.

This means every device and system in scope must be fully supported and compliant on the day your certificate comes through. If something becomes unsupported between submission and issue, your certification may not hold. An important change for anyone whose assessment process spans several weeks.

Closing the selective patching loophole

Recent audits uncovered a pattern of organisations applying updates only to the specific devices included in the CE+ test sample, rather than rolling them out across their entire in-scope environment. Technically they passed the assessment. In practice, vulnerabilities remained.

The assessment process for update management has been tightened as a result. If an organisation fails the initial test of a random device sample, they can remediate and request a retest – but the retest will pull a new random sample from the wider environment.

A second failure results in revocation of the verified self-assessment certificate.

You can no longer adjust your self-assessment once the audit begins

From April 2026, organisations will not be permitted to go back and amend their verified self-assessment responses based on what the CE+ audit reveals. The self-assessment must be completed, finalised and locked before testing commences.

Previously there was some flexibility here. Now your self-assessment needs to accurately reflect your actual environment before the audit starts, not be adjusted afterwards to align with the results.

It’s a change that rewards organisations who approach Cyber Essentials as an ongoing standard rather than something to be tidied up when an audit is imminent.

The director’s declaration now covers ongoing compliance

The declaration signed by a director or board member as part of the verified self-assessment has been updated. It now includes an explicit acknowledgment that the organisation is responsible for maintaining Cyber Essentials compliance throughout the certification period, not just on the day of assessment.

In one sense this formalises what has always been best practice. Cyber Essentials certification shouldn’t be a once-a-year exercise that gets forgotten about the moment the certificate lands. It should reflect a continuous, maintained security posture. The updated declaration makes that expectation official.

What this means for your organisation

If you’re already Cyber Essentials certified, these changes apply to your next renewal if your assessment account is created after 27th April 2026. If you’re working towards certification for the first time, they apply now.

The direction of travel is clear: Cyber Essentials is moving towards a model where continuous compliance matters as much as the annual assessment. Organisations that treat it as a point-in-time, tick-box exercise are going to find the requirements increasingly difficult to meet.

Need support with Cyber Essentials compliance?

If you’d like to talk through what these changes mean for your security approach, or if you want to understand how LIMA’s Vulnerability Detection and Remediation service can help you meet Cyber Essentials patching requirements automatically, get in touch with the team.

Learn more about VDR

Read our latest blog about vulnerability management

Contact the team at 0345 345 1110 or enquiries@lima.co.uk

]]> https://lima.co.uk/vulnerability-management-more-than-a-patching-exercise/ Wed, 25 Mar 2026 15:20:01 +0000 https://lima.co.uk/?p=7179 The ongoing battle between those using AI to attack, and those using it to defend, rages on in 2026, alongside increasing concerns for the shaky geo-political climate that leaves ample scope for attackers to disrupt and weaken critical infrastructure.

According to the World Economic Forum’s 2026 Global Cybersecurity Outlook, 64% of organisations consider geopolitically motivated attacks a top consideration in their cyber risk strategy.

This volatile environment has become a breeding ground for:

• Supercharged ransomware attacks
• Sophisticated social engineering attacks executed quickly and at scale
• Disrupted supply chains
• Greater exploitation of software vulnerabilities

IBM’s 2025 Cost of a Data Breach study revealed that the average detection and containment of a data breach takes 241 days, with 50% of breaches caused by malicious activities and 23% by IT failure. Phishing and supply chain compromises are among the most vulnerable vectors, highlighting the need for organisations to tighten up both their data-sharing and vulnerability management efforts.

Between December 2024 and January 2026 alone, LIMA’s Vulnerability Detection and Remediation (VDR) revealed and remediated 11.7 million vulnerabilities in customer environments. The vast number of vulnerabilities identified emphasises both the scale of the challenge and the necessity of a strong solution to the problem.

Compromised supply chains because of worsening cyber inequity are a growing cause for concern in 2026. Interconnected organisations are exposed to an onslaught of vulnerabilities when there is a disparity between those with robust cybersecurity resources, and those without.

Cyber inequity highlights two major challenges in the 2026 cyber security landscape:

1. A need for greater collaboration across organisations, supply chains and even nations
2. The call for a level playing field for small-medium sized businesses (SMBs), whose IT teams are struggling against a swelling tide of vulnerabilities while continuing to manage day-to-day IT requirements

The pressure is on for internal IT teams to do more, with less time and fewer resources.

What are the top cyber security threats in 2026?

According to DeepStrike, by mid-2025 a jaw-dropping 21,500 vulnerabilities and exposures had been reported; an increase of 16-18% vs. 2024. But why are there so many vulnerabilities open to exploitation, now?

Let’s dive into the top three cyber security threats fueling this increasingly complex environment:

1. AI vs AI – The 2026 cyber security arms race

AI tooling has been integrated with what we might describe as reckless abandon, leaving technology and processes unchecked. Attackers are using AI to scout out and exploit the ample vulnerabilities, faster than IT teams can patch them.

2. More devices, more problems – The IoT threat to cyber security

We have more internet connected devices than ever. From phones and tablets to watches and headphones, we are all interconnected by a vast infrastructure of gadgets that lack adequate security protection and are vulnerable to attack. When compromised devices are connected to corporate networks without IT authorisation, it quickly becomes a problem for the entire business.  

3. You’re only as strong as your weakest link – Securing your supply chain

Just as the breaching of one IoT device puts all interconnected devices at risk, the same is true for the supply chain. Smaller businesses, with IT teams that are underfunded and under-resourced, become easy targets for attackers with their eyes on a bigger prize.    

Meeting Cyber Essentials Plus requirements

The challenges facing this already precarious ecosystem are compounded for organisations that lack the in-house cybersecurity expertise, or whose IT teams are already overburdened by endless patching to meet regulatory standards such as Cyber Essentials Plus.

This is an all-too-familiar tale for many IT teams whose responsibilities have evolved and expanded well beyond the team’s original remit and skill set, without the investment in both people and technology to support the changing requirements.

It’s simply not sustainable. The IT team needs investment in the right support, now.

The hidden risk inside your network: initial access and privilege escalation

Most organisations focus their security investment on keeping attackers out. Firewalls, endpoint protection, SOC services, MFA – all essential tools for defending the perimeter. But perimeter defences alone are not enough.

Once an attacker gets inside your network – whether through a compromised account, a phishing link, or a purchased credential – the question is no longer, where did they get it? But how much damage they can do once they’re there? That’s where unpatched software vulnerabilities become even more dangerous.

Known software vulnerabilities don’t just provide a route in, they provide a route through. A vulnerability in a browser, an application, or a network component can give an attacker the foothold they need to move laterally across your systems. Jumping from one asset to another, the attacker escalates their privileges, gaining access to sensitive data, financial systems or critical infrastructure that would otherwise be out of reach.

The stats back this up. 74% of data breaches involve the abuse of privileged credentials, and 46.6% of incidents now involve some form of privilege escalation.

A real-world example: a vulnerability in a widely-used browser could give an attacker an initial foothold on a standard user’s device. Low risk in isolation. But with the right unpatched vulnerabilities in place, that same attacker can move laterally across the network, reach higher-value systems and escalate their access, turning a minor breach into a major incident.

This is what LIMA’s VDR service is specifically designed to address. By continuously identifying and remediating known vulnerabilities across your entire environment, VDR takes away opportunities for attackers to move, escalate and cause maximum damage if they to get through, or bypass, your outer defences.

Do I need a strategic IT partner?

When it comes to detecting and remediating vulnerabilities, SMBs need their IT function to behave just as effectively as their enterprise counterparts if the interconnected ecosystem is to survive. We have to eliminate cyber inequity by seeking out partnerships that level the playing field, creating secure environments regardless of the size of a business’s IT team.

Steve Cook, Infrastructure and Security Manager at Broadacres said: “The current security landscape is terrifying. It’s constantly evolving and it’s getting much worse. Threat actors are using AI tools to make it even harder for us.

“There has been a rise in targeted attacks against social housing providers, and an uptick in ransomware attempts to exploit vulnerabilities in housing management systems.”

For Broadacres, handling vulnerability management alongside its ongoing digital transformation efforts had become too much and it was time to work with a dedicated, strategic IT partner.

Richard Peck, IT Manager for APEM Group said: “VDR gives awareness of the importance of security to the Executive Team, and all the way down through the business. In the first month, VDR discovered and remediated many vulnerabilities.

“We’ve grown globally, so quickly, so it was important for us to use a service that tackles these challenges and issues as they arise. We’re in a position, utilising LIMA, that we can remedy the risks before they impact the business, which helps the IT team and the board to sleep at night!”

Expect better and do more, with LIMA

Vulnerability Detection and Remediation is an end-to-end solution covering the entire IT environment across 500+ technologies. Our team of experienced security experts review every aspect, from your software and third-party applications to networks and applications, so that we can provide continuous, in-depth monitoring and reveal hidden vulnerabilities.

Between December 2024 and January 2026, LIMA’s VDR revealed and remediated 11.7 million vulnerabilities in customer environments. While many of the remediations utilise automated tooling, the most critical vulnerabilities need the hands-on, eyes-on expertise of our engineers who intervene to manually patch and resolve the issue.

VDR doesn’t just reduce the risk of an attacker getting in. It reduces the damage they can cause if they do. By closing the vulnerabilities that attackers use to move laterally and escalate privileges, VDR shrinks your attack surface from the inside, complementing your existing perimeter defences and SOC capabilities with a layer of protection that many organisations are missing.

With comprehensive coverage across your internal and external facing technologies, and SLAs aligned with Cyber Essentials Plus, you can trust LIMA to resolve the vulnerabilities and keep your business secure.

Talk to a LIMA about VDR at enquiries@lima.co.uk, or sign up for your free VDR Proof of Value today.

Contact the team at 0345 345 1110 or enquiries@lima.co.uk