Security: Fortify Your Presence

What is the Security Pillar?

Unlike backend server security, which focuses on protecting your data "behind the door," the Security pillar in our index focuses on browser-side security. It measures how your website is built to protect users from malicious third-party attacks that occur within their own browser sessions.

Security is often a binary field in our benchmarking: organizations are either very good at it, or they aren't, with very little middle ground. Interestingly, our research shows that companies in heavily regulated industries or those that have recently suffered a data breach tend to have the highest security scores, suggesting that the impetus to improve often comes from external pressure or hard-learned lessons.

Key Security Insights

Security is the pillar users assume rather than consciously evaluate — until it fails. The 2026 data reveal a market still deeply divided, with Consumer Services registering the lowest score of any industry.

Key Takeaways

• Security was the only pillar in the 2026 Digital Trust Index that barely moved, declining just 3.9 points.
• Only 15.1% of Fortune 1000 companies improved their security score year over year, compared to 50% for the overall R-Score.
• Consumer Services, the group covering hotels, resorts, and restaurants, averages only 31.3 in security, despite scoring 33.3 in performance and 43.3 in discoverability.
• Given that U.S. organizations are facing record-average data breach costs of $10.22 million, these figures emphasize why security should be a primary focus for those seeking to improve Digital Trust.

Only 26.4% of Fortune 1000 Companies Improved Their Security Score

Security is assumed until it fails. In 2026, the market remained divided, with Consumer Services earning the lowest industry score.

Security most directly shapes user confidence. However, only 26.4% of matched companies improved, while 67% improved performance and 65% raised overall R-Scores. The 2026 Index showed organizations excel at or struggle with security, with little middle ground. The median score was 50; around 19.7% scored 75+, and 22.4% scored below 25.

Notably, companies in heavily regulated industries or those that have recently suffered a data breach tend to have the highest security scores, suggesting that the impetus to improve often comes from external pressure or hard-learned lessons.

Among Fortune 1000 companies with measured Security data, 22.4% score below 25 (Critical) and 19.7% score ≥75 (Strong). The average rose year-over-year: from 44.67 in 2025 to 45.43 in 2026, a change of +0.76 pts. 267 of 999 tracked companies have no security measurement at all, representing an unknown but likely larger risk.

Security investment is driven by compliance mandates and incident response, not by user-visible outcomes. Companies without active audits, regulatory requirements, or recent breaches have little forcing function to change. Only 26.4% of companies with a prior-year baseline improved, so those that did not improve dragged the aggregate down. Security is assumed until it fails.

Security moved +0.76 points in 2026. The average is 45.43 with a median of 50. Only 26.4% of companies improved their security score year-over-year. The question for boards and CISOs: what is your trigger for treating security as a mandatory investment, not a compliance checkbox?

Security by Industry

Banks leads all measured industries on security at 64.4, followed by Food, Beverage & Tobacco (61.4) and Household & Personal Products (56.7). The index average is 45.4.

At the lower end, Automobiles & Components (14.2) and Consumer Services (27.0) fall furthest below that average. The 50.2-point spread between the leading and trailing sectors is structural, not noise: it tracks how central the digital channel is to how each sector competes.

Security gaps are industry-structural, not random. Banks (64.4) and Automobiles & Components (14.2) are 50.2 points apart. Industries with fewer than 3 measured companies are excluded, so these are sector patterns rather than single-company effects.

* All 25 GICS Industry Groups. Sorted by security score. — = no 2026 data available. n = companies with Security data.

When Security Improves, It Improves Decisively

CarMax gained +80 points (0 → 80), Bristol-Myers Squibb gained +75 points (0 → 75) and Celanese gained +75 points (5 → 80). 7 of the top 10 started below 25 — near-total absence of observable security infrastructure. Reaching their 2026 scores in one cycle represents a near-complete rebuild of externally-facing security posture.

Gains of this magnitude do not happen organically. They are responses to triggers: a security audit, a regulatory review, a vendor assessment requirement, or a near-miss incident. Companies at Critical (<25) that have not yet faced a trigger are the ones most at risk when the trigger arrives.

When security improves, it improves decisively. The top 10 movers averaged +69 points in a single year. This is not gradual hardening — it is organizations that crossed a threshold and invested comprehensively. Waiting for a breach to be the trigger is the most expensive way to close the gap.

Tips and Best Practices for Improving Security

Building a secure digital experience means anticipating threats before breaches. Consumer Services’ low 20.7 score suggests CSP and browser permissions are missing at many hotels, restaurants, and resorts. For those organizations, implementing HTTPS and a basic Content Security Policy gives the fastest improvement. Other security tips include:

• Enforce Site-Wide HTTPS: Use the HTTPS protocol across your entire website, not just on login or checkout pages, to ensure all data flowing between the server and the browser is encrypted.
• Enforce a Robust CSP and Permissions Policy: Deploying a Content Security Policy (CSP) and a Permissions Policy are the highest-leverage steps for browser-side security. These tell the browser exactly which scripts and plugins are trusted, and help to prevent malicious code injection.
• Apply the Principle of Least Privilege: Frequently review website permissions and disable access to hardware such as microphones, cameras, and geolocation when not strictly required.
• Vet Third-Party Providers: Only reliable third-party providers for video players, analytics tools, and embeds, as these are common vectors for browser-side security exposure.
• Maintain Proactive Compliance: Stay current with data security laws (e.g., GDPR and CCPA) and routinely update cookie security and privacy policies.
• Prioritize Prevention Over Recovery: Don't wait until a breach happens to improve your security posture. While companies often improve rapidly after an incident, it comes at a high cost of damage to reputation and the difficult task of rebuilding fractured trust.

By prioritizing these browser-level safeguards, brands can create a secure space where users can engage with confidence, knowing their digital safety is a top priority. To see where your organization's security score sits against Fortune 1000 benchmarks, run a free Reliability Report scan.