A chief information security officer—if the company can even afford one— is woken by an urgent phone call in the middle of the night. There's been a breach. Threat actors stole highly sensitive customer data, and now they're demanding a ransom. If the company doesn't pay, they will leak data on the Dark Web. That's when the clock, and the financial fallout, starts ticking.
Whether it's a ransomware attack, business email compromise, or a third-party supply chain attack, organizations have unfortunately become increasingly accustomed to suffering data breaches. But they are caught between rising threats they can't ignore and burgeoning defense costs they can't sustain.
The paradox is leading to a cybersecurity affordability crisis. For small-to-medium sized businesses (SMBs), which lack the deep pockets of large enterprises, one breach could shutter their doors permanently.
The global average cost of a data breach reached a record $4.99 million in 2025, according to IBM's "2026 Cost of a Data Breach Report," that noted a 12% rise over the previous year. That equates to $1,100 per hour.
Meanwhile, Gartner projects global cybersecurity spending costs for organizations – including network security, security services, and software security – will reach $239.8 billion this year, up from $193.4 billion in 2024. Artificial intelligence (AI) adoption is only adding to the challenge as organizations race to implement the latest models.