Average Cost of a Data Breach is Now $202

Average Cost of a Data Breach is $202 Per Record

Annual Study Shows 2.3 % Increase Over 2007

February 2, 2009 - Linda McGlasson, Managing Editor

The news of the Heartland Payment Systems (HPY) data breach gives new meaning to an annual study of what such a breach truly costs a business.

The average cost of a data breach was $202 per compromised record in 2008, according to the Ponemon Institute's Cost of Data Breach study. This represents a 2.3 percent increase from 2007, when a data breach cost an average of $197 per record. In 2006, the average cost was $182 per record.

The average total cost per reporting company was more than $6.6 million per breach, ranged from $613,000 to almost $32 million.

The study also shows that the cost of lost business continues to carry the highest impact, averaging $4.59 million, or $139 per record compromised, notes Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute. Lost business now accounts for 69 percent of data breach costs, up from 65 percent in 2007 and 54 percent in the 2006 study.

Third-party data breaches are on the increase, and they cost more. Breaches by third-party organizations such as outsourcers, contractors, consultants, and business partners were reported by 44 percent of respondents, up from 40 percent in 2007, 29 percent in 2006, 21 percent in 2005. Per victim cost for third party flubs is $52 higher, says Ponemon -- $231 compared to last year's $179. (Full text at bankinfosecurity.com)

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