Nearly half of UK small firms hit by cyber breaches in past year, survey finds
New survey shows 46% of small and 65% of medium UK businesses suffered cyber breaches in the last year, as SMEs face rising threats due to limited security resources.
The Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025/2026, cited by TechRadar, reported that 46% of small businesses and 65% of medium businesses experienced a breach or attack over the period. An article published by TechRadar, written by the co-founder of BlockAPT, argues that SMEs operate with the same level of connectivity and regulatory responsibilities as larger firms but lack the security budget and staffing to defend themselves.
According to the Federation of Small Businesses, SMEs account for 99% of the UK's business population, employ three-fifths of the private sector workforce and generate half of its turnover. The TechRadar article notes that a fifth of breached SMEs reported revenue loss and reputational damage, along with extended business disruption.
The article also points out that compromised SME suppliers can trigger larger breaches, citing the example of JLR. It highlights that cybercriminals now use industrialized tools such as phishing kits, ransomware-as-a-service and AI-driven social engineering. Verizon's 2025 DBIR SMB Snapshot found that credential abuse, vulnerability exploitation and phishing are among the leading initial access points used by attackers.
TechRadar reports that UK businesses experienced approximately 5.13 million phishing cybercrimes in the past year. The author argues that prevention alone is insufficient and that SMEs need autonomous security systems capable of quickly acting on alerts, isolating accounts, revoking credentials and notifying human teams for oversight.