According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025, the global average cost of a data breach is $4.44 million. That same report cites the average cost of a data breach in the U.S. is $10.22 million, a new record high, up 9% from the previous year.
But perhaps a more telling statistic comes from a recent IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) report that cites 96% of security executives who have adopted platformization say security is a source of value, compared to just 8% of those who haven’t.
This stat clearly demonstrates that organizations who build effective cybersecurity functions should view the investment as more than an expense to be managed; they should recognize its business value.
These days it seems that every security team could use a bigger budget. But to make it happen, particularly in these times of economic uncertainty and cautious spending, they need to speak to their corporate stakeholders in their language: business performance.Â
Selling cybersecurity: accentuate the positive
Security professionals are reframing cybersecurity as a value driver that can yield top- and bottom-line growth, rather than merely a cost of doing business. By avoiding a number of aftereffects that ripple through an organization following a breach, cybersecurity can have a positive impact on business results that often can be presented as a concrete number. Some examples include:
Uptime and ongoing business operations
The effect of cyberattacks on uptime is an obvious impact, and one that is increasingly worrying as more companies rely on digital operations. If the network is unavailable due to a denial of service (DoS) attack or data is encrypted in a ransomware incident, the meter is running.
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According to ITIC’s Hourly Cost of Downtime Survey, a single hour of downtime exceeds $300,000 for 90% of mid-size and large enterprises. One global vehicle manufacturer reported in 2025 that an attack led to a five-week production shutdown that cost the company £50 million per week.
Logically, then, savvy cybersecurity and IT leaders can make the business case for investments that keep networks, systems, and data online and enable uninterrupted business operations.
Reduced operating costs
The faster a breach is contained and dealt with, the less the financial impact. According to the IBM Cost of a Data Breach 2025 report, the average time to contain a breach is 241 days, and breaches lasting more than 200 days carried a significantly higher cost due to prolonged business disruption, lost customers, and downtime.
Regulators are increasingly willing to levy fines against companies that are judged to have been lax in protecting their data. According to CyberScoop, U.S. states issued $3.45 billion in privacy-related fines to companies in 2025, a total greater than the previous five years combined. And, in the case of data breaches that affect the public, class-action lawsuits usually follow. In 2025, AT&T settled a lawsuit stemming from stolen call and text records for $177 million. Additionally, after two years of softening rates, cyber insurance premiums are forecast to climb again—S&P Global Ratings projects a 15–20% increase in 2026—and an organization’s own premiums can rise further following an incident.
The avoidance of these significant costs can form the basis of a robust financial argument for investing in effective and high-speed defense and remediation tools, preferably automated ones.Â
Brand reputation and customer trust
This is less quantifiable in the short term, but can be seen in the long run, as customers and partners steer clear of a company that’s suffered a breach. According to a widely cited Ping Identity study, 78% of consumers said they would stop engaging with a brand online after a data breach, and 36% would stop entirely. There’s a clear case to be made that effective cybersecurity protections not only safeguard a company’s reputation but can boost its standing among customers and partners.
Stock price
It’s not just the loss of reputation that can sting a company. Cyber incidents can also hurt its position in financial markets. A 2026 study by ISS STOXX and ISS-Corporate analyzed cyber incidents across the Russell 3000 index (2022–2024) and found that firms reporting significant cyber incidents underperform the market (as measured by share price) by nearly 5% on average, and this underperformance is sustained over a year or more.
Organizations with high cybersecurity maturity generally report that their cyber initiatives yield a positive impact on their share prices. In fact, Deloitte Global’s Future of Cyber survey discovered that over 80% of high-maturity organizations reported a measurably positive impact on incomes such as share price.Â
Credit ratings
Most major credit ratings companies now factor in cybersecurity when evaluating a company’s credit risk, which in turn determines their ability to borrow and issue bonds to fund operations, as well as the cost of carrying that debt. Analysts at major credit ratings firms like Moody’s have downgraded companies and government agencies following cyberattacks due to the financial impact of the incident or the inability of the company to make information available due to resulting outages.
Aligning cyber and business strategyÂ
Organizations should already be aligning their cyber and seeing cybersecurity as a growth factor rather than a defensive cost of doing business. While sometimes challenging to quantify, cybersecurity can be presented to decision makers as a business investment with real returns. Security and technology leaders need to clearly communicate the critical role cybersecurity strategy plays in business operations to ensure continuing support.Â
The bottom lineÂ
The connection between cyber initiatives and positive business outcomes is becoming clearer. Making the case for cyber security and risk management as a driver of positive business outcomes can only help organizations grow, both in terms of cybersecurity maturity and overall business performance.
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**This blog has been updated from a previous version.