Average Cost of Data Breach $6.75m in 2009

Data breaches are a mainstay of the news cycle these days. But how much do they actually cost businesses? A lot, according to a new study by the Ponemon Institute and PGP Corp.

The researchers found that even though the total number of incidents fell from 2008 to 2009, the cost per breach rose. eSecurity Planet has the details on the alarming findings.

Data breach incidents cost companies an average of $6.75 million each time, according to a new study released by security researcher The Ponemon Institute and PGP Corp., an e-mail and data encryption security software developer.

And while the study found that the total number of reported data breaches declined from 657 incidents in 2008 to 498 last year, the average cost inched up from $202 to $204 per customers record.

The firms’ joint U.S. Cost of Data Breach Study chronicles a wide range of cost factors, including the outlays for detection, escalation, notification and response along with legal, investigative and administrative expenses, customer defections, opportunity loss and reputation management.

The $6.75 million cost per incident was slightly higher than the $6.65 million enterprise clients shelled out in 2008. Those figures include the costs associated with customer support such as information hotlines and credit monitoring subscriptions.

Read the full story at eSecurity Planet:


Data Breach Costs Surge in 2009: Study