Per-record data breach cost rises

The cost to organisations of a knowledge breach is now £79 per record, an increase of £8 in a year.

According to investigate by Symantec and Ponemon Institute, the price of an information breach has risen by 68 per cent in five years for UK businesses, with negligent employees or contractors posing the largest risk to organisations with them being liable for greater than a 3rd (36 per cent) of all data breaches.

Based at the data breach experiences of 36 UK companies, the report revealed that the real organisational cost of a breach declined from £1.9m in 2010 to £1.75m in 2011, but they cost companies an ordinary of £79 per compromised record. Almost 1/2 that (£37) relates to indirect costs akin to lost business, reputational damage or churn of existing customers.

Mike Jones, senior product marketing manager at Symantec, commented:  “We're noticing that businesses susceptible to data loss have gotten wise to the financial impact of an information breach. These businesses are implementing steps not only to forestall loss but to mitigate the wear and tear, should a breach occur.

“We've shifted to an age where data breaches at the moment are only a common occurrence. As such, UK consumers are becoming somewhat de-sensitised to data losses, but that does not mean that companies should become complacent. The price of data loss still remains high and, in tighter economic times, even a single-digit increase in customer churn may be terminal to profitability.”

The report found that fewer records were being lost in breaches and businesses that do suffer data loss are less more likely to be abandoned by customers, with the typical abnormal churn decreasing from 3.3 per cent in 2010 to two.9 per cent.

Malicious or criminal attacks have increased slightly from 29 per cent to 31 per cent and are the costliest for organisations. For those organisations with a CISO who has overall responsibility for enterprise data protection, the typical cost of an information breach may be reduced by up to £18 per compromised record.