{"id":31683,"date":"2026-10-16T07:00:28","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T05:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smecyberinsights.co.uk\/?p=31683"},"modified":"2026-10-16T12:34:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T10:34:49","slug":"hiscox-2026-cyber-resilience-findings-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smecyberinsights.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/10\/16\/hiscox-2026-cyber-resilience-findings-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"One in 3 firms hit by cyber attacks but businesses fight back with resilience spend according to Hiscox"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\"Partners1_NordVPN\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"Partners3_R3\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"Partners2_Zoho\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"Partners4_Plesk\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"Red_Button_Slider\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"ogo2\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"Securus<\/figure><\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"SME\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"https:\/\/www.securuscomms.com\/\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

SECURUS Communications Ltd<\/strong><\/p>\n

Securus<\/a> <\/strong>is a managed communications Operator, providing next-generation network infrastructure and value added services to Managed Hosting providers and the ‘cloud generation’\u200b of enterprises. Securus<\/a> <\/strong>priority is to offer communication services that represent excellent value for money and are backed by exceptional levels of support.<\/p>\n

Contact Securus<\/strong>
\nSecurus Communications Ltd
\nStation Road, Landmark house, Hook, England RG27 9HA, GB
\nT: Enquiries:\u00a003451 283457<\/span><\/a>\u00a0| Service Desk: 03451 283458<\/a>
\nSecurus on LinkedIn<\/a> | Securus on “X”<\/a> | https:\/\/securuscomms.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t

\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"One\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Image Credit: rawpixel viaFreepik<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Nord\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Gibraltar:\u00a0 Friday, 16 October 2026 \u2013 07:00 CET<\/p>\n

One in three firms hit by cyber attacks but businesses fight back with resilience spend according to Hiscox
\n<\/strong>By: Iain Fraser<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Cybersecurity Journalist
\n<\/a>Published in Collaboration with:
\nSecurus Communications Ltd
\n<\/a>SMECyberInsights.co.uk<\/a>\u00a0– First for SME Cybersecurity
\n<\/a>Google Indexed on: CET | SERPS: LLM(AI) Google
\n#CyberJourno #CyberEssentials #CyberResilience #CyberSafe #CyberSecurity #Cybersecurity #NCSC #SME #SMECyberInsights #SMECybersecurity #SMECyberInsights #ThreatIntelligence #Securus #CyberInsurance #Hiscox\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

SME Cybersecurity: What Hiscox\u2019s 2026 Cyber Resilience Findings Mean for UK SMEs<\/strong> \u2013<\/p>\n

Cyber attacks are no longer rare enough to treat as an exceptional event for someone else\u2019s business. For UK SMEs, they are increasingly part of the normal operating environment, which means resilience planning needs to sit alongside finance, operations, and compliance rather than being left as an occasional IT concern.<\/p>\n

TL; DR:<\/strong> Hiscox says nearly one in three organisations experienced a successful cyber-attack in the past year, while many are increasing resilience spending in response. For UK SMEs, the lesson is straightforward. Cybersecurity is now a recurring business cost, and smart spending matters more than simply spending more.<\/p>\n

That is the real significance of the latest Hiscox findings. In its 2026 Cyber Readiness Report press release, Hiscox says 29% of organisations were hit by at least one successful cyber-attack in the last year<\/strong>, with incidents costing businesses an average of \u00a352,000<\/strong> and 32 hours of operational downtime<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It also says firms are responding with an average \u00a351,000 of cyber resilience spend<\/strong> across people, process, and technology. Those figures are global across surveyed markets, not UK-only, but they still offer a useful signal for SMEs trying to decide what good Cybersecurity investment looks like.<\/p>\n

SME Cybersecurity and the shift from prevention to resilience<\/strong><\/p>\n

The most useful reading of the Hiscox data is not that Cybersecurity has failed. It is that businesses are accepting a more mature reality. Prevention still matters, but resilience, the ability to keep operating, recover quickly, and limit damage, now matters just as much.<\/p>\n

For SMEs, resilience spending means more than buying another product. In practical terms, it usually includes:<\/p>\n

* stronger email and identity protection
\n* better staff awareness training
\n* more reliable backups and recovery processes
\n* clearer incident response procedures
\n* improved external support from MSPs, MSSPs, or specialist advisers<\/p>\n

That distinction matters because many smaller firms still think of Cybersecurity as a narrow technical problem. In practice, most UK small business cyber threats disrupt normal commercial activity first. Payroll is delayed. A director\u2019s mailbox is compromised. Supplier payments are questioned. Customer service slows. The impact is operational before it is technical.<\/p>\n

Why resilience spend needs to be disciplined, not reactive<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spending money after a breach can feel decisive, but reactive spending often creates a messy stack of tools with unclear ownership. That is especially common in SMEs where Cybersecurity responsibility is split across outsourced IT, finance, operations, and senior management.<\/p>\n

What should SMEs learn from the Hiscox numbers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The headline figure, one in three firms hit, is a reminder that many organisations will face a cyber incident despite having some controls in place. That means spending decisions should answer a more practical question, what reduces business impact fastest?<\/p>\n

The NCSC<\/a> consistently frames Cybersecurity as a set of manageable risk-reduction steps rather than an endless technology race. That approach is valuable for SMEs because budgets are finite and time is tighter still.<\/p>\n

Which investments usually matter most first?<\/strong><\/p>\n

For most SMEs, the strongest early returns come from a short list of basics:<\/p>\n

1. deploy multi-factor authentication (MFA)<\/a>across email, cloud services, and admin accounts<\/p>\n

2. tighten access control and remove unnecessary privileges<\/p>\n

3. strengthen phishing reporting and staff awareness<\/p>\n

4. improve backup integrity and recovery testing<\/p>\n

5. document who does what when an incident happens<\/p>\n

These are not glamorous measures. They are, however, the controls that often make the difference between a disruption and a crisis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"One\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

How UK SMEs can turn Cybersecurity spending into resilience<\/strong><\/p>\n

The best Cybersecurity investment programme is one that aligns to recognised frameworks and the reality of the business.<\/p>\n

Start with a baseline that is achievable<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Cyber Essentials<\/a> scheme provides a practical baseline for SME cyber security best practices. It covers areas such as secure configuration, access control, patch management, malware protection, and firewalls. That will not eliminate risk, but it gives smaller organisations a sensible minimum standard.<\/p>\n

Link controls to data and legal duties<\/strong><\/p>\n

If a cyber incident exposes personal data, the ICO\u2019s security guidance<\/a> and broader UK GDPR obligations become highly relevant. This is where resilience spending should include not just protection, but also detection, containment, and breach assessment capability.<\/p>\n

Use a broader resilience model<\/strong><\/p>\n

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0<\/a> is useful because it goes beyond protection alone. It encourages organisations to identify critical assets, protect them, detect issues, respond effectively, and recover in a controlled way. For SMEs, that provides a simple discipline, spend should support business continuity, not just product count.<\/p>\n

What good resilience planning looks like for SMEs<\/strong><\/p>\n

A practical SME cyber resilience plan does not need to be huge. It does need to be usable. That means:<\/p>\n

* identifying the systems that matter most to daily operations
\n* confirming who owns key security and recovery decisions
\n* checking whether external IT suppliers can support a live incident properly
\n* testing backups against real recovery needs, not assumptions
\n* creating manual workarounds for essential processes such as payroll, invoicing, and customer communication<\/p>\n

That last point is often overlooked. However, resilience is not just about restoring systems. It is also about keeping the business moving while restoration is underway.<\/p>\n

The Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2026<\/a> reinforces the wider point that cyber incidents remain a persistent issue for UK organisations. For SMEs, the sensible response is not fear-based buying. It is targeted, outcome-led investment.<\/p>\n

FAQs<\/strong><\/p>\n

Is Cybersecurity now just a normal business cost for SMEs?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Increasingly, yes. SMEs should view Cybersecurity as a recurring operational and resilience cost, similar to insurance, legal support, or health and safety controls. The goal is not to eliminate every risk. It is to reduce disruption, protect data, and recover quickly when incidents happen.<\/p>\n

What is the best first Cybersecurity investment for a small business?<\/strong><\/p>\n

For many SMEs, the best first investment is enforcing MFA on email, cloud platforms, and admin accounts, then improving phishing reporting and backup testing. These steps are relatively affordable and often reduce both the likelihood and impact of common attacks such as account compromise and ransomware.<\/p>\n

Does spending more on Cybersecurity always improve resilience?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No. Higher spend only helps if it is tied to clear business outcomes such as faster detection, stronger access control, better recovery capability, or clearer accountability. SMEs often get better results from improving a few core controls properly than from buying multiple overlapping tools.<\/p>\n

FAQ note: These FAQs are based on recurring live audience questions and discussion themes from Reddit and Quora, helping ensure each article answers what SME readers are actively asking in the real world.<\/em><\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Hiscox findings are a useful prompt for UK SMEs. Cyber attacks are common enough that resilience spending now needs to be deliberate, prioritised, and grounded in business reality. The right next step is not to buy everything. It is to review where one cyber incident would hurt most, then invest first in the controls and recovery capabilities that reduce that pain fastest.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Nord_logo_1.png\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

What is a VPN & Does my SME Need one?<\/strong> A VPN<\/strong><\/a> is a Virtual Private Network a method of securing your communications credentials. When it comes to SMEs<\/strong><\/a>, the choice of VPNs<\/strong><\/a> can significantly impact the security and efficiency of their operations. NordVPN<\/b> secures your Internet data with military-grade encryption, ensures your activity remains private and helps bypass geographic content restrictions online.\u00a0 \u00a0Join\u00a0NordVPN\u00a0Today and\u00a0Save\u00a0up to\u00a073%\u00a0and Get 3 months\u00a0Extra Free<\/a> – Rude Not to \u2026!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn More \/...<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"CYBERInsights\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Image Credit: IfOnlyCommunications<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

SMECYBER Insights \u2013 Helping Keep Small Business CYBERSafe!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Launched in 2020 by\u00a0Cybersecurity Journalist<\/a>\u00a0Iain Fraser<\/strong>\u00a0and his team at\u00a0IfOnly…<\/strong><\/a> SMECYBERInsights<\/strong><\/a> was developed to be the go-to platform providing definitive, reliable & actionable Cybersecurity News, Intel,\u00a0 Awareness & Training specifically written and curated for Small Business<\/strong><\/a> & Enterprise Owners, Partners and Directors throughout the UK.\u00a0#SMECyberInsights #SMECyberSecurity #CyberAttack #CyberAwareness\u00a0 #Compliance #DDoS #Fraud #Ransomware #ScamAlert #SME #SmallBusiness #SmallBusinessOwner #ThreatIntel <\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\tLatest Posts ...<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\n
\n
\n\n
\n \n \n \"O2 <\/a>\n\n \n