Aon’s 2025 Cyber Risk Report Highlights Financial Impact of Cyber Events
Aon has released its 2025 Cyber Risk Report, revealing that organizations affected by cyber events that escalate into reputation-related incidents experienced significant financial losses. The report analyzed over 1,400 global cyber events and found that companies experiencing such incidents saw an average 27% drop in shareholder value.
The findings represent a substantial increase from Aon’s 2023 research, which showed an average 9% decline in shareholder value following major cyber incidents. Out of the 1,414 events reviewed in the latest report, 56 were classified as reputation risk events – defined as cyber incidents that attracted substantial media attention and were followed by a measurable drop in share price.
Malware and ransomware attacks were found to be particularly likely to result in reputational damage, making up 60% of reputation-related incidents despite representing only 45% of total cyber events analyzed. The report identifies five key areas that contribute to value recovery following a cyber event: preparedness, leadership, swift response, communication, and change management. Organizations that excelled in these areas were associated with stronger recovery outcomes and reduced long-term impact.
Brent Rieth, global cyber leader at Aon, emphasized that cyber risk has become a strategic concern requiring proactive preparation to manage both operational and reputational outcomes. The report utilized proprietary data from Aon’s Cyber Quotient Evaluation platform, which supports cyber insurance submissions and provides insight into organizational exposure and readiness.
While cyber insurance can offer financial protection for certain losses such as data breaches and operational disruptions, reputational damage is generally not covered. The report notes that organizations with integrated cyber risk strategies, including crisis management planning, are better positioned to manage both immediate and long-term effects of cyber events.
