RESEARCH IN PROGRESS
A new benchmark for how cybersecurity firms earn buyer trust
Wave88 is building the UK Cybersecurity Trust IndexTM — an independent
benchmark that measures how effectively UK mid-market cybersecurity vendors
communicate credibility to enterprise buyers.
Enterprise buyers need credible signals. Most vendors still communicate in
claims.
Enterprise buyers increasingly need structured, verifiable evidence of supplier credibility. Most cybersecurity vendors still rely on generic claims, fragmented proof, and inconsistent trust signals, creating avoidable procurement friction.
We assess not whether firms are technically capable, but whether they can prove it to the buyers who need to trust them.
That’s the gap Wave88 was created to close.
Turning trust communication into a benchmarked discipline
Wave88 brings a research-led approach to a commercial problem that has long
gone unmeasured, the gap between what cybersecurity firms assert and what enterprise buyers can independently verify.
The result is a new lens on credibility, one that turns trust into measurable data.
For Cybersecurity Vendors
Capable cybersecurity firms often struggle to communicate credibility in ways enterprise buyers can evaluate quickly and confidently.
Wave88 helps make those visible trust signals measurable and comparable across the market.
For Enterprise Buyers
Procurement teams often rely on fragmented evidence, generic claims, and informal judgment when comparing cybersecurity suppliers. Wave88 supports a more consistent, evidence-based view of visible trust signals, helping the industry move toward clearer standards of credibility
Let’s talk…
If you work in cybersecurity procurement or as a CISO in a UK regulated sector organisation and you are interested in contributing to our buyer research programme, please get in touch. We welcome a conversation.
The first UK Cybersecurity Trust Index publishes in late 2026.
Register now to receive the Sector Insight Report when published and Index updates as they become available.
INDEPENDENT RESEARCH
Every score in the UK Cybersecurity Trust Index is evidence-based and evidence-referenced. No firm is scored on general impression or subjective judgment. Every finding is documented against specific, observable, publicly available evidence.
VALIDATED METHODOLOGY
The Trust Architecture Framework measures trust communication maturity across six defined dimensions. The methodology is grounded in academic research on signalling theory, credence goods economics, and institutional legitimacy — and validated through primary buyer research before the first Index publishes.
BUYER-SIDE RESEARCH
We build and run the work with minimal demands on your time, sending short updates instead of long reports.
ANNUAL PUBLICATION
The UK Cybersecurity Trust Index publishes annually. Each publication cycle adds to a longitudinal dataset that grows in value and competitive depth with every year — giving firms a trackable standard and giving buyers an objective reference point that improves over time.
The trust gap is no longer theoretical
Research from industry, policy, and academia points to the same conclusion:
Enterprise buyers need clearer, more verifiable ways to evaluate cybersecurity vendors.
That shift is already reshaping how credibility is communicated and rewarded.
A new annual benchmark for the UK cybersecurity market
Wave88’s flagship publication, the UK Cybersecurity Trust IndexTM, applies a structured methodology to assess the public trust signals vendors provide to the market.
See how the Index brings structure to what’s long been subjective.
Powered by the Trust Architecture FrameworkTM
The Index is underpinned by the Trust Architecture FrameworkTM, a structured scoring model that measures six dimensions of trust communication in the public signalling environment.
Clarity of Technical Proof
Regulatory & Compliance Alignment
Evidence of Delivery
Transparency
Authority Indicators
Commercial Accessibility
Insights
Research, analysis, and commentary on trust communication in the UK cybersecurity sector.
Security Awareness & Training
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Managed Detection & Response (MDR)
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Risk Assessment & Vulnerability Analysis.
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Receive updates on the UK Cybersecurity Trust Index™, the
Sector Insight Report, and related Wave88 research.