Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate she has made of the cost of cyber attacks to the economy in 2025.

In November 2025, the government published a set of independent research reports quantifying the impact of cyber attacks on the UK economy. These reports demonstrate the scale of the potential cost of cyber attacks to UK businesses, with KPMG’s report Economic Modelling of Sector Specific Costings of Cyber Attacks estimating the average cost of a significant cyber attack for an individual business in the UK to be almost £195,000. Scaled to an annual UK cost to businesses, this amounts to an estimated £14.7 billion.

The Government has developed tools for businesses to protect themselves, including:

• The highly effective Cyber Essentials Scheme, shown to reduce the likelihood of a cyber insurance claim by 92%,
• The Cyber Governance Code of Practice, to help boards and directors manage cyber risks, and
• A wide range of free NCSC tools and support, including training for boards and staff, the Early Warning system and the Cyber Action Toolkit for small businesses.

The Government is also taking further action to protect the economy. The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will boost our cyber defences and better protect our essential services. This year, we will publish a new National Cyber Action Plan setting out how Government will respond to the cyber threat and work with industry to raise resilience across the economy.