Data Breach Costs Increase… Again

By Guy Bunker | January 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment 

Guy Bunker

The Ponemon Institute has just released its latest report into the cost of data leaks and once again the costs have risen. OK, so it’s not a massive increase ($204 from $202 per record), with the average total cost up $100K to $6.75M. One unusual statistic is that those companies who rushed to inform their customers too quickly (less than a month) ended up paying more ($219 vs $196 for the others.) This was probably because they didn’t know all the facts before rushing out to inform the people involved. For example if you assume that all the customers were affected but it turns out only half were, then it is possible to see where the increase cost can occur.

For most organizations, they don’t know and can’t prove who has been affected and how – so notifying everyone is the only option. Understanding all the locations of sensitive data and what is and isn’t exposed should make up a cornerstone of any information protection policy – it’s not just good business sense, it also make good financial sense as well.

Guy Bunker

PS Remember there’s a good book on the preventing data leaks!

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