Cyber attacks are now a routine cause of disruption in the UK. In 2025, attacks on major retailers emptied shelves and shut online shops for weeks. The NHS, councils, water companies and the food supply chain have all been hit. The National Audit Office warned in 2026 that the food supply chain is at particular risk, and the Cold Chain Federation says hostile hackers know where its pinch points are. For a household, the question is not whether the systems fail but what you do for the day or three until they come back.
What it looks like
- Payments. Card terminals decline, contactless travel gates close, cash machines go blank, online banking shows an error. Shops that stay open go cash-only and run out of change.
- Supply. Supermarket ordering and warehouse systems fail, so lorries do not get loaded. Shelves thin unevenly over days, usually chilled and fresh first.
- Communications. A mobile network or broadband provider goes down, or the networks are simply overloaded with everyone checking what is going on. Texts queue; calls fail.
- Services. GP systems, prescriptions, council websites, school payment apps, parking apps and public transport ticketing all run on the same kinds of systems.
- Scams. Within hours, criminals send messages impersonating the affected organisation. This is the part that costs ordinary people the most money.
Before
- Cash at home in small notes
- A card with a second bank, and a small balance on it
- Paper copies of key documents and phone numbers
- Offline maps downloaded; FM radio in the kit
- Two-factor authentication on email and banking
- Three days of food already in, so there is nothing to rush for
During
- Pay cash, buy only what you normally would
- Treat every message about the outage as a scam until proven otherwise
- Get news from the radio and official sites, not forwarded screenshots
- Text rather than call; agree a family check-in time
- Keep receipts for anything you have to pay for differently
After
- Check bank statements for transactions you do not recognise
- Change passwords if the affected service tells you to; use a password manager
- Watch for follow-up scams for weeks afterwards
- Top the cash back up
Preparing
Cash, in small notes
Enough for three days of bread, milk, fuel and a taxi: most households settle on £50 to £100. Fives and tens, plus coins. The cash and documents guide covers where to keep it.
A second bank
A basic current account with a different bank, with a modest balance and a card in the document folder. When one bank's app is down, the other usually is not. It also protects you if your main account is frozen after fraud.
Paper
Phone numbers, insurance policy numbers, NHS numbers, medication lists, the household plan. The things you would normally look up in an app.
Offline information
Offline maps for your area. The FM radio. Your network operator's and water company's numbers written down.
Lock the front door online
Two-factor authentication on email first, then banking and shopping accounts. A password manager so every account has a different password. This is the single best protection against the fraud that follows a breach.
Food already in
If the three-day food stock is in the cupboard, you can watch a supermarket outage on the news without joining the queue.
Scams during an outage
Criminals watch the news too. During a real outage you will get messages saying your account is locked, your delivery is held, your payment failed, or you must confirm your details to restore access. Do not click. Go to the official app or website yourself, or ring the number on the back of your card. Forward scam texts to 7726. If you have given details to a scammer, call 159 to reach your bank safely.
If your own data was in a breach
The organisation must tell you. Change the password for that service and for anywhere you reused it. Watch your bank statements and credit file for a few months. Expect convincing phishing that quotes real details from the breach; the details being correct does not make the message genuine.
Perspective
Online outages are inconvenient rather than dangerous for most households, and they end. The preparation is nearly free: a little cash, a little paper, a second card and some scepticism. The people who struggle are the ones who have no cash, every account with one bank, and every number in a phone that is about to run flat.
Common questions
What does a cyber attack actually do to ordinary people?
Usually it stops a service you did not think about. Recent UK incidents have shut supermarket ordering systems, leaving gaps on shelves for weeks; taken retailers' online shops down for months; disrupted NHS pathology so blood tests had to be rationed; and knocked out council systems. A broad outage can take payments, banking apps and contactless travel down together for hours or days.
Is my money safe if a bank is attacked?
Your deposits are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to the published limit per bank. The practical problem is access rather than loss: you cannot pay for things while the app and cards are down. Cash at home and a second card with a different bank cover that gap.
How do I know if a message about an outage is a scam?
Assume it is. Criminals send waves of texts and emails during real outages: your account is locked, click here to restore access, confirm your card details. Banks never ask for full passwords or PINs. Go to the official app or website yourself, never through a link, and ring the number on the back of your card if unsure.
Should I stock up on fuel or food when a cyber attack is in the news?
No. Panic buying is what turns a system hiccup into empty shelves and forecourt queues. If you already have the three-day kit, you have nothing to rush out for. Shop normally.