Binalyze Report Highlights High Cost of Slow Cyber Incident Response

Binalyze has released new research detailing how gaps in cyber incident response are driving significant financial losses for enterprises. According to the report, unclear cybersecurity investigations have cost organizations an average of $1.1 million over the past five years, totaling $48.1 billion across the United States. The research also finds that each hour of delay in responding to a cyber incident costs an average of $114,000.

Surveying 200 CISOs in the report titled "The State of Cybersecurity Investigations 2025: How Cyber Scene Investigators Can Turn the Tide Against Attackers’ Sense of Impunity," Binalyze identifies major cracks in crisis management. Although 84% of CISOs now view a successful cyberattack as inevitable, 79% of organizations continue to prioritize prevention over response, with budgets averaging a 2:1 ratio toward prevention.

Key findings show persistent gaps in visibility and preparedness. At most, 50% of CISOs can confidently answer basic questions after an attack, including whether an attacker still has access, how the breach occurred, or whether data was stolen. Sixty five percent say their organizations have not always learned the right lessons from past attacks, and 75% report that the same type of attack could succeed again. Seventy percent of organizations struggled to remediate or recover from an attack in the past year, while 61% faced regulatory penalties and 56% were denied cyber insurance payouts due to insufficient insight into whether required controls were in place.

“With cyberattacks now inevitable, the real test for organizations is how fast they can respond and recover,” says Lee Sult, Chief Investigator at Binalyze. He notes that rapid response relying on in-depth Cyber Scene Investigation is essential to identify, isolate, and eliminate threats while keeping regulators and insurers informed, but 75% of CISOs report missing key information during breaches.

The report underscores that limited visibility continues to impede effective response. Eighty eight percent of CISOs agree that faster investigation and response would significantly reduce breach costs, yet only 40% express confidence in their crisis management framework. Organizations currently take an average of 8.6 hours to bring forensics into play, a delay representing $980,400 in losses before response efforts begin. With organizations conducting an average of nine in-depth investigations per year, delayed forensics contributes to almost $9 million in unnecessary losses.

Sult emphasizes that resilience begins with visibility and early forensic action. CISOs report having visibility into only 57% of their IT environments, a gap that slows recovery and increases regulatory risk. He adds that swift, forensic investigation should be deployed proactively to identify, disrupt, and deter threat actors before they strike.