Travelers: Cyber threats reclaim top spot among business concerns

Cyber threats are once again the biggest worry for U.S. businesses, according to the 2026 Travelers Risk Index, as the spread of artificial intelligence in the workplace creates new openings for attackers. Fifty-eight percent of respondents to the annual survey from The Travelers Cos., which has a large campus in downtown Hartford, said they worry some or a great deal about cyber threats. It’s the fifth time in eight years cyber has ranked as the top concern. Broad economic uncertainty, last year’s top concern, ranked second at 55%, followed by medical cost inflation at 53%. The impact of the global economy (49%) and global political conflict, terrorism and social unrest (48%) rounded out the top five. AI-related cyber events ranked as respondents’ second-biggest specific cyber worry, nearly tied with a traditional security breach. Respondents pointed to attackers using AI to find system weaknesses and AI-generated phishing and deepfakes aimed at employees or customers. The survey also found a gap in how companies manage their own AI use. Eighty-nine percent said their workforce uses AI daily, but only 59% have formal practices in place to govern it. “This 30-point gap really stands out, and it cuts both ways,” said John Menefee, vice president and enterprise cyber lead at Travelers. “Companies are focused on what cybercriminals are doing with AI, and that concern is justified. However, companies should be equally focused on the risks created by their own AI use when the right practices and policies aren’t in place.” Businesses are also buying more protection. Seventy percent reported having cyber insurance, up 7 percentage points from 2025 and the highest share since the index began focusing on cyber in 2018. Among large businesses, coverage rose to 82% from 73%; among small businesses, it rose to 50% from 43%. Adoption of cyber controls climbed on nearly every measure that Travelers tracks. Use of multifactor authentication to validate administrative users jumped to 72% from 60%, while firewall use and data backups each rose to 81% from 76%. Those basic defenses matter. Travelers reported last year that ransomware attacks rose 15% in 2024, with groups targeting virtual private network accounts that had weak credentials or lacked multifactor authentication. Hart Research conducted the online survey of 1,202 U.S. business insurance decision makers June 15-28. The Travelers Institute, the company’s public policy division, will host a free webinar on global cyber risks Sept. 30.