The average cost of a data breach has risen 23 percent since two years ago, reaching $154 per compromised record and an average total cost of $3.8 million, according to the Ponemon Institute’s annual survey released Wednesday.
The group’s "Cost of Data Breach Study: Global Analysis" benchmarked 350 companies and organizations in 11 countries.
"Based on our field research, we identified three major reasons why the cost keeps climbing,” said Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute. First, cyberattacks are increasing both in frequency and the cost it requires to resolve these security incidents. Second, the financial consequences of losing customers in the aftermath of a breach are having a greater impact on the cost. Third, more companies are incurring higher costs in their forensic and investigative activities, assessments and crisis team management."
If there’s "good" news, it’s that the public sector incurs the lowest amount of cost per breached record ($68). Nevertheless, overall the U.S. has the most expensive breaches of any country at $217 per lost or stolen record.
The full report is available here.
