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Nearly a third (29%) of organizations globally have been hit by at least one successful cyber-attack in the past 12 months, with incidents having substantial financial, operational and human impacts on victims.
The Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2026 found that those affected by cyber-attacks reported an average of four incidents over the period.
UK-based firms were most likely to experience an incident, with successful attacks reported by 38% of organizations. US organizations were least likely to experience an attack, at 20%.
On average, cyber incidents during the past 12 months cost organizations around $52,000. The average cost of an incident was highest in Italy, at $134,138.
Operational impacts of attacks were huge, with the global average downtime for organizations following an incident being 32.8 hours.
In addition, the study highlighted the extent to which cyber-incidents can negatively impact strategic and growth opportunities. Among cyber-attack victims:
- 32% reported delays to growth and expansion or new business initiatives
- 31% cited increased staffing or external expertise costs
- 30% said there was a negative impact on financial performance, valuation or credit rating
- 29% reported losing business opportunities or partnerships
- 28% were impacted by financial penalties
- 26% suffered negative publicity
The Hiscox report, published on September 15, also highlighted the human impact of cyber incidents. Over two-thirds (69%) of victims reported employee burnout, high stress or a toxic workplace culture following a cyber-attack.
Commenting on the report, Keven Knight, CEO of Talion Cyber Security, said the findings should serve as a wake-up call for business leaders.
“Downtime doesn’t just mean being locked out of computers, it means disruption to service, disruption to employees and their ability to perform their jobs, plus disruption to customers because they are unable to access the services or goods an organization provides to them,” he commented.
Knight added: “Every second of downtime costs the business money. This is when cyber has a very tangible impact on organizations and it is something board members and business leaders should never overlook.”
Businesses Respond to Growing Cyber Threats
The Hiscox study, based on a survey with 6800 security decision-makers across the UK, Europe and the US, found that businesses are investing on average around $51,000 a year in strengthening their cyber resilience.
This investment includes updating employee cybersecurity training (62%), hiring additional cybersecurity personnel (55%), purchasing new software and tools (51%).
Additionally, 32% of respondents revealed that their organization is linking executive compensation or performance metrics directly to cybersecurity outcomes.
The insurer also reported that businesses are taking steps to improve the security of AI tools being deployed in their environments. These include upskilling employees in AI and cybersecurity (33%), expanding AI awareness and training programs (33%), reviewing cyber insurance arrangements to ensure AI risks are covered (32%) and planning regular AI audits (31%).
“Businesses are less concerned about speculative future AI scenarios than practical risks that already exist today, including corrupted training data, vulnerable third-party tools and reduced human oversight,” Hiscox wrote.
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