This year saw a record-high increase in the average cost of a data breach, reaching $4.4 million, according to a research from IBM Security.
How Can Data Breaches Affect You?
Consumers are greatly affected by data breaches. According to IBM, more than half of the firms surveyed stated that they have increased the prices for their goods and services to reflect these expenses.
You might wonder what it means.
Basically, customers (presumably you) are likely paying for them.
'Cost of a Data Breach' Report
The Ponemon Institute carried out the study, which IBM sponsored and assessed. The result is based on an analysis of data breaches that occurred at 550 firms globally between March 2021 and March 2022.
The costs shown in the research are based on immediate expenses like ransoms paid and costs for investigating and containing the breach. CNET said other costs include regulatory fines and lost sales that can show up years later.
Critical infrastructure from the financial services, industrial, technology, energy, transportation, communication, healthcare, education, and public-sector industries was a target of several of the most expensive breaches analyzed in the IBM report. The average cost of the breaches under critical infrastructure was $4.8 million.
Meanwhile, the industries outside the critical infrastructure have lesser cost.
How Dangerous Are Data Breaches
One of the latest and major news about data breaches is about T-Mobile, which agreed to pay $350 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought about by the 2021 attack. The company said the incident exposed the data of about 76.6 million American citizens.
Additionally, the wireless carrier committed to spending an additional $150 million on technology linked to data security this year and the year after that.
T-Mobile is required to pay $500 million in total.
According to a report, the data stolen from T-Mobile's servers was put up for sale on an underground forum. More than 100 million Social Security numbers, names, residences, and driver's license information have been on sale, as per the seller of the leaked data.
How Important is Security Awareness in Businesses?
Data breaches are among the most expensive errors when it comes to operational challenges. A single vulnerability that is exploited can result in millions of dollars in losses. Additionally, it could make customers lose respect for the business.
As was previously reported, human negligence generated more than 90% of cyberattacks, which increases the risk of cybercrime and the harm it causes to companies.
According to Tessian research, 30% of employees do not think that they "personally contribute to the upkeep of their company's cybersecurity posture." On the other hand, only 39% of workers believe they are very likely to report a security problem to their companies.
It simply shows that organizations haven't done a good enough job of communicating the importance of maintaining security-conscious behaviors, which is the main reason of what seems to be a cultural disconnect between security leaders and employees.
