Threat Intelligence

Cyber Costs Are Skyrocketing—And Small Businesses Are Being Left Behind

Dark Reading · 26 Aug 2026

Key Takeaway Even with limited budgets, small businesses should prioritise low-cost, high-impact measures like multi-factor authentication, regular backups, and staff training to avoid becoming the weak link in a larger supply chain.

Global spending on cyber defense is nearing $240 billion, yet breach costs keep hitting record highs. While large enterprises can absorb these rising expenses, small and medium-sized businesses are increasingly priced out of the security tools and expertise needed to protect themselves.

This growing affordability gap isn't just a small business problem—it's a supply chain problem. Many SMBs serve as suppliers, contractors, or service providers to larger organisations. When a small business gets breached, the fallout can ripple upstream, exposing bigger partners and customers to risk through shared systems, data, or access.

For Australian small businesses, this trend is a warning sign. Cybercriminals often target smaller, less-defended organisations specifically because they can serve as an easier entry point into larger networks. As the cost of top-tier security climbs, businesses need to focus on cost-effective, high-impact protections rather than assuming security is out of reach entirely.

cybersecurity costs small business risk supply chain security

Summarised by CISO AI from Dark Reading. We link back to every original so you can read it yourself.