- Nearly a third (29%) of organisations hit by at least one cyber attack in the last year.
- Hacks are costing businesses on average $52,000 and 32 hours in operational downtime.
- Firms are fighting back with an average $51,000 on cyber resilience spend – investing in people, processes and technology.
London, UK (15 September 2026): Nearly one in three organisations globally have been hit by a successful cyber attack in the past year, as cyber incidents shift from an occasional threat to a routine cost of doing business in the digital economy, according to new research from Hiscox.
The 10th annual Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report, based on a survey of 6,800 cyber security decision-makers across the UK, Europe and the US, found that, on average, cyber incidents now cost organisations around $52,000 annually, in addition to approximately 32 hours of operational disruption.
The persistence of cyber attacks continues to shape business strategy. One in three say it delayed growth and expansion plans (32%), with similar numbers reporting increased staffing costs (31%), financial damage (30%) and lost opportunities (29%).
At the same time, companies are also concerned by the longer-term consequences of cyber incidents. Reputation and customer trust now rank as the most significant risk for half of businesses (48%), ahead of operational downtime or business interruption (46%) and supply chain or third-party disruptions (44%).
This reflects the true cost of a hack on business performance. Among organisations that have experienced an incident, over a quarter were impacted by financial penalties (28%) or bad publicity (26%).
However, companies are responding by increasing investment in cyber resilience, with average spend on resilience measures being $51,000. For more than half, this includes investing in new technology (51%) and hiring specialist staff (55%), and for nearly two-thirds it means updating employee training (62%).
Eddie Lamb, Global Head of Cyber at Hiscox, said the findings highlight how the nature of cyber risk has evolved over the past decade. “During our 20+ years of insuring cyber risks and our decade of Cyber Readiness research, we’ve seen a clear shift in the cyber threat and how businesses respond to it. Cyber risk has become a recurring cost, not an exceptional event, so the investment we’re seeing in cyber resilience is good news as businesses start to take back control.”
For more information, go to: https://www.hiscoxgroup.com/hiscox-cyber-readiness-report-2026.
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Carmel McCarthy, Global Media Relations Lead
[email protected]
+44 (0)7769 280903
Lucy Hensher, Head of External Communications
[email protected]
+44 (0)7824 996 370
Notes to editors
The Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report is now in its 10th year and tracks the cyber preparedness and experiences of organisations across key markets. The 2026 study was conducted by Wakefield Research among 6,800 cyber security decision-makers in the US, UK and mainland Europe (France, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium) between 5th and 17th June 2026. Respondents were those with responsibility for cyber security strategy, working in organisations with fewer than 250 employees.
About Hiscox
Hiscox is a global specialty insurer, headquartered in Bermuda and listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE:HSX). With roots dating back to 1901, 2026 marks 125 years of Hiscox and we are proud of our long heritage in insuring specialist and complex risks. Our ambition is to continue to be among the world’s most respected specialist insurers, with a diverse portfolio by product and geography. We believe that building balance between catastrophe-exposed business and less volatile local specialty business gives us opportunities for profitable growth throughout the insurance cycle.
The Hiscox Group employs over 3,000 people in 13 countries and has customers worldwide. Through our retail businesses in the USA, UK and Europe, we offer a range of specialist insurance products in commercial and personal lines. Internationally traded, bigger-ticket business and reinsurance is underwritten through Hiscox London Market and Hiscox Re.
With 20+ years’ experience in privacy and cyber insurance, Hiscox currently serves more than 100,000 cyber insurance customers worldwide, helping businesses to recover from incidents, strengthen their defences, and build long-term resilience. One of the ways we do this is by offering free employee training to all our small- and mid-sized business insurance customers. We have also developed a free-to-all tool to help companies understand their cyber security strengths and weaknesses – the Hiscox cyber maturity model – and compare their performance to thousands of other businesses.
Our values define our business, with a focus on people, courage, ownership and integrity. We pride ourselves on being true to our word and our award-winning claims service is testament to that. For more information, visit www.hiscoxgroup.com.
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