The Cyber Resilience
Manifesto.
Cyber resilience is an extension of information security and an evolution of operational resilience. It is “the ability to anticipate, withstand, recover from, and adapt to adverse conditions, stresses, attacks, or compromises on systems that use or are enabled by cyber resources.”
The Core Values
Through this work, we have come to value:
Anticipation of Failure
Over the assumption of perfect security. We accept that systems will inevitably be breached.
Business Survivability
Over threat elimination. The absolute goal is to keep the mission and operations running.
Continuous Adaptation
Over rigid compliance frameworks. Attackers evolve rapidly, and so must our defensive posture.
Collaborative Defense
Over isolated silos. True resilience requires transparent, cross-functional organizational teamwork.
The Principles
We follow these guiding tenets to operationalize organizational resilience.
Assume Compromise
We architect our systems and organizations operating under the assumption that a breach has already occurred or is imminent.
Graceful Degradation
When under attack, systems must isolate failures and maintain critical functions, prioritizing partial operability over total collapse.
Accelerated Recovery
We invest heavily in the ability to rapidly reconstitute operations, measuring success by recovery time rather than prevention rate.
Extending the Principles
Further tenets that govern a resilient organizational mindset.
Protect What Matters Most
Identify and heavily fortify the absolute critical path of the business, accepting risk in peripheral or non-essential systems.
Automate the Response
Human reaction time is insufficient during an active event. We mandate automated isolation and pre-authorized response playbooks.
Measure by Impact
Shift metrics from 'attacks blocked' to 'mean time to recovery' and 'business impact avoided'.
Security as Code
Embed resilience requirements into the deployment pipeline, ensuring infrastructure is immutable and easily replaced.
Radical Transparency
Foster a blameless culture around security incidents to ensure rapid reporting and continuous organizational learning.
Actionable Resources
Frameworks and guides to help implement the manifesto.
Manifesto PDF
Download the formatted manifesto for offline reading, internal circulation, and board-level review.
Resilience Maturity Model
Structured evaluation model to score your current organizational posture against the manifesto's core tenets.
Board Communication
Standardized presentation templates designed to align non-technical boards with resilience-based risk management.
Join the Community
Get the PDFs
Request access to the manifesto one-page edition and the full Volume 1 PDF for offline review, board circulation, and internal sharing.
Implementation Forums
Join closed-door digital sessions with leaders who are actively executing the manifesto's principles in complex environments.
Share Your Story
Submit your post-incident learnings and resilience case studies to expand the manifesto's knowledge base.
About the Manifesto
The Cyber Resilience Manifesto was drafted by a coalition of CISOs, engineers, and risk officers who recognize that legacy security paradigms are failing under modern threat landscapes.
It operates as a living document, deliberately prioritizing actionable constraints and system survivability over theoretical completeness or perfect prevention.
Community Sponsorship
Cyber Resilience Awareness Day
High Value Target is a sponsor of the global Cyber Resilience Awareness Day at ISSA.
First Cyber Resilience Awareness Day Virtual Summit for the community.
Second annual summit with the “Resilient by Design” theme.
Cyber Resilience Awareness Day Virtual Summit
ISSA International Virtual Summits
High Value Target is a sponsor of the global Cyber Resilience Awareness Day at ISSA.
ISSA is excited to announce the launch of the first Cyber Resilience Awareness Day Virtual Summit for the community, organized by the ISSA Cyber Resilience SIG.
Cyber Resilience Awareness Day Virtual Summit 2025
ISSA International Virtual Summits
ISSA is proud to announce the second annual Cyber Resilience Awareness Day, hosted virtually by the ISSA Cyber Resilience SIG.
The “Resilient by Design” theme is inspired by the “Secure by Design” concept from the US CISA.
Download the complete
manifesto PDF.
Request access to the manifesto one-page edition and the full Volume 1 PDF for offline review, board circulation, and internal sharing.
Explore Further
Stay updated
Receive occasional updates on new principles and resources.