Research Report • May 2026

State of SMB Cybersecurity
2026: Data & Benchmarks

What the numbers actually say about ransomware, breach costs, and compliance for small and mid-size businesses. Combines CyberStackHub user data with Verizon 2025 DBIR and IBM Cost of a Data Breach 2025.

Published: May 4, 2026
Author: CyberStackHub
Sources: Verizon DBIR 2025, IBM 2025, CISA
Sample: 12 assessments (April 2026)
Key Findings — State of SMB Cybersecurity 2026

88% of SMB data breaches now involve ransomware — more than double the rate at large enterprises (39%), and up 37% year-over-year (Verizon 2025 DBIR). The average data breach costs a small business $2.9 million; 60% of small businesses that experience a major attack close within six months. SMBs are 4x more likely to be targeted than large organizations. Among the 12 companies that completed assessments through CyberStackHub in April 2026, SOC 2 was the top compliance priority (92% of assessments), with zero trust architecture, ransomware protection, and GDPR rounding out the top demand signals. Third-party and supply chain breaches doubled to 30% of all incidents, and AI-crafted phishing now succeeds in 35% of attempts.

Key Findings at a Glance

88%
of SMB breaches involve ransomware — vs. 39% at large enterprises
Source: Verizon 2025 DBIR
$2.9M
average total cost of a data breach for organizations with fewer than 500 employees
Source: IBM Cost of a Data Breach 2025
4x
more likely to be targeted than large enterprises — SMBs are disproportionately attacked
Source: Verizon 2025 DBIR
60%
of small businesses close permanently within 6 months of a major cyberattack
Source: Forbes, CFO Dive, multiple industry reports
37%
year-over-year increase in ransomware attacks across all organizations in 2025
Source: Verizon 2025 DBIR
92%
of CyberStackHub-assessed companies cited SOC 2 as their primary compliance target (April 2026)
Source: CyberStackHub internal data, 12 assessments

Data Methodology

This report combines two data sources: a small, honest sample from CyberStackHub's own assessment platform, and well-established public research. We present them separately so readers can evaluate each on its own terms.

Data Sources

Every statistic in this report is labeled by source type. CyberStackHub Data indicates figures from our own assessments. Public Research indicates figures from published third-party reports.

■ CyberStackHub Assessment Data
12 cybersecurity assessments completed through CyberStackHub's platform in April 2026. Industries: Technology/SaaS (58%), Financial Services (33%), Other (9%). Company sizes: 11–50 employees (58%), 51–200 (33%), other (9%). Note: This is a small, early sample — figures reflect the current user base and should not be generalized to all SMBs.
■ Public Research Sources
Verizon 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) — analyzed 22,052 incidents and 12,195 confirmed breaches globally. IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025 — global study covering 604 organizations across 17 industries. CISA published threat intelligence. Forbes and CFO Dive industry reporting.

The Ransomware Crisis for SMBs

Ransomware is no longer an enterprise problem that occasionally reaches down to smaller companies. For SMBs, it is now the dominant threat — the primary attack vector in nearly nine out of ten confirmed breaches. The Verizon 2025 DBIR, which analyzed 22,052 security incidents and 12,195 confirmed data breaches, found that 88% of SMB breaches involve ransomware, compared to just 39% at large enterprises.

The asymmetry is not accidental. Ransomware operators have industrialized their targeting. Tools like ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) allow low-skilled threat actors to execute sophisticated attacks at scale, and SMBs — with fewer security controls, no dedicated security operations, and often poorly segmented networks — present the path of least resistance. A successful ransom demand against a 30-person technology company extracts roughly the same payout with a fraction of the effort required to breach a Fortune 500.

+37%
year-over-year increase in ransomware incidents across all organizations in 2025
Source: Verizon 2025 DBIR
$115K
median ransom payment in 2025 — but 64% of victims refused to pay, up from 50% in 2023
Source: Verizon 2025 DBIR
The non-payment trend is encouraging but incomplete. While 64% of ransomware victims now refuse to pay (up from 50% in 2023), refusal does not mean survival. Organizations that do not pay still face the cost of system recovery, downtime, data loss, and regulatory exposure. Without tested backups and an incident response plan, the cost of non-payment frequently exceeds the ransom itself.
Metric Value Source
SMB breaches involving ransomware 88% Verizon 2025 DBIR
Large enterprise breaches involving ransomware 39% Verizon 2025 DBIR
Year-over-year ransomware increase +37% Verizon 2025 DBIR
Total incidents analyzed (DBIR 2025) 22,052 Verizon 2025 DBIR
Confirmed breaches analyzed (DBIR 2025) 12,195 Verizon 2025 DBIR
Median ransom payment $115,000 Verizon 2025 DBIR
Victims who refused to pay (2025) 64% Verizon 2025 DBIR
Victims who refused to pay (2023) 50% Verizon 2025 DBIR (prior year comparison)
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