A leading data security firm has released a report stating that malicious or neglectful data breaches are costing UK companies more. Average annual costs have risen for the third year in a row, which now stands at £1.9million.
These costs are based on the clear up process after the breach as well as loss of customers and the processes of rebuilding damaged reputations and trust with customers. The largest breach in 2010 cost one company £6.2 million, £2.3 million more than the previous year’s largest cost.
37% of the breaches where down to system failures, with either errors with the technology or the policies in place for the companies data management systems. 31% of cases were down to employee negligence, with data being lost on laptops, USB sticks and phones.
A spokesman for the security firm said that cyber criminals were causing the most expensive threats to data security, with costs generated of the recovery process. Further expense was incurred by attracting new customers something which could be escalated if the breach became common knowledge.
The spokesman went on to say that companies needed to be more active rather than re-active to these breaches. “Putting measures in place after the fact is not good enough anymore,” he said. “Companies need to be alert now rather than waiting for the event to happen.”
Also high standards in compliance and regulation burdened companies even more than previous years.
