Hiscox report: Irish SMEs lose on average 34 hours after successful cyberattacks

The useful part

SMEs suffer average of 34 hours disruption following effective cyberattack. The research was conducted by Wakefield Research for the business insurance provider on a sample of cyber security decision-makers in 300 businesses with fewer than 250 employees. Ciara Weldon, senior development underwriter, Hiscox Ireland, said: "Cyber security is no longer simply a technology issue.

How it works

• Businesses need to know how they will respond, who they will contact and how they will restore operations quickly.
• advertisement "Smaller businesses often face many of the same sophisticated threats as larger organisations, but without the same depth of in-house cybersecurity, fraud-prevention or compliance resources.
• That makes preparation, clear responsibilities and access to the right support particularly important." The report also indicated that responsibility for cyber security was becoming more firmly embedded at...
• More than one in three businesses affected by a successful attack (36%) linked leadership compensation or performance measures to cyber security goals.
• A further 34% increased their use of external cyber security expertise as a result, while 33% created or updated cyber crisis-response plans.

What to take from it

Padriñán via Pexels Successful cyberattacks are costing Irish SMEs an average of 34 hours in operational disruption and placing additional pressure on growth, investment and commercial opportunities, according to the latest Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report. Operational downtime or business interruption and supply chain or third party disruption were each identified by 47%, while 46% included regulatory compliance among their leading concerns. The findings reflect the growing reliance of Irish SMEs on digital systems, cloud services, payment providers and external technology partners.

Example or evidence

• Weldon said: "The wider impact of an attack can continue long after systems are restored.
• A cyber incident can affect financial performance, business relationships, customer confidence and the ability to move forward with new investment or expansion.
• Weldon added: "The businesses making the greatest progress are those that treat cyber resilience as a combination of people, technology and process.
• For SMEs, that does not necessarily mean complex governance structures or major technology investment.

Details worth keeping

Weldon continued: "Business leaders do not need to become cybersecurity specialists, but they do need to understand the potential consequences of an incident and ensure clear responsibilities, appropriate controls and tested response arrangements are in place. "That is why cyber resilience needs to be treated as a core business discipline rather than an issue owned solely by the IT department." Businesses investing in resilience Irish businesses are responding to the evolving threat environment. Clear responsibilities, practical employee guidance, proportionate controls and a tested response plan can make a meaningful difference.

Related coverage

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• Infosecurity Magazine: Hiscox highlighted the huge financial and operational costs of cyber-attacks, with the average cost of an incident at $52,000
• Insurancebusinessmag: A single supplier's ransomware incident halted manufacturing across five weeks and affected more than 5,000 UK organisations that were never directly attacked.
• Techround: UK organisations faced an average of 1,571 cyber-attacks per week each in August 2026, a 14% increase on the same...