Cyber threats continue to evolve, and organizations are under increasing pressure to demonstrate that cyber risk is being effectively managed. At the same time, digital ecosystems are becoming more complex, with organizations relying on an expanding network of third parties, cloud providers, and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.
The 2026 HITRUST Trust Report examines this changing landscape and highlights a growing challenge for security and risk leaders. There is a widening gap between the level of assurance organizations need and what traditional approaches are able to provide.
Drawing on four years of performance data across HITRUST-certified environments, The Report provides a data-driven view into how cybersecurity assurance is evolving and what organizations can do to build greater trust in their security posture.
There is a growing trust crisis facing cybersecurity and compliance leaders.
Organizations today depend on a vast interconnected ecosystem of vendors, service providers, and platforms. These relationships drive innovation and efficiency, but they also expand the potential attack surface and introduce new risks that must be managed.
At the same time, stakeholders including boards, regulators, insurers, and partners are demanding stronger proof that cybersecurity risks are being addressed.
However, many organizations still rely on fragmented approaches to assurance, including questionnaires, self-attestations, and inconsistent reporting. These methods often fail to provide the visibility needed to confidently answer a critical question.
“Can I trust the security of the organizations I depend on?”
One of our most significant findings is the continued performance of HITRUST-certified environments.
The Report found that 99.62% of HITRUST-certified environments remained breach-free in 2025, demonstrating measurable cybersecurity risk reduction.
In comparison, independent surveys indicate that more than 40% of organizations have experienced a security breach.
This highlights a broader shift in cybersecurity.
Organizations are moving beyond compliance-based models toward standardized, independently validated assurance that produces consistent and measurable outcomes.
For a quick, visual breakdown of these findings, explore the 2026 Trust Report Infographic.
Standardized, independent, and defensible assurance frameworks are becoming foundational to modern cybersecurity programs.
Unlike traditional approaches that rely on flexible, principle-based frameworks, HITRUST uses prescriptive control requirements aligned to real-world threats and validates those controls through independent quality review.
This approach enables organizations to:
Evaluate security posture consistently across environments
Gain more reliable and comparable results
Improve both efficiency and effectiveness over time
The Report also notes that organizations adopting structured assurance programs with continuous validation and corrective action processes see improvements in security maturity over time.
The 2026 HITRUST Trust Report shows that addressing today’s trust crisis requires more than compliance. It requires measurable, validated assurance. Organizations that choose HITRUST gain a proven approach to reducing risk, strengthening security, and building trust across an increasingly complex ecosystem.
Read the full 2026 Trust Report to learn more.