With recent news of Ashley Madison and the Office of Personnel Management being hacked, data breaches continue to dominate headlines. It’s only going to get worse, it seems, as a recent report by Juniper research predicts the cost of data breaches will pass two trillion dollars by 2019.
Breach Costs Now and in the Future
Breaches cost an average of $3.79 million per attack. Numbers vary depending on industry, but the cost per record in a data breach averages about $154, up six percent from last year. However, $3.79 million per breach sounds low when you look at this year’s two big ones. The Ashley Madison hack, with its massive loss of 37 million records, could cost up to roughly $5.7 billion, and the OPM breach exposed 21.5 million records for an estimated loss of $3.3 billion. Though these are two notable outliers, they speak to a growing boldness by hackers that will assuredly create bigger and more costly losses in the future. According to Juniper, the cost per organization will grow from $3.79 million to an incredible $150 million per breach in the next five years.
Who Does it Hurt the Worst?
Aside from the flashy raw numbers, the Juniper study points to a more worrisome statistic: the kind of company that is hurt most by these breaches. The study suggests that smaller and mid-size businesses are damaged far more than large companies. This is because larger organizations have the funds to absorb the cost of breaches that smaller companies do not. A breach that would be a nightmare for JP Morgan is a killer for your local credit union.
What Can You Do?
The best defense against a data breach is a multi-tiered approach to corporate security. Hacks don’t just happen because of a focused approach on corporate firewalls. They can happen when an employee gives out their password or loses their smartphone. Security begins with employee education and carries all the way through to better technology and periodic vulnerability assessments by outside IT consultants in San Diego. Only by approaching security in a layered fashion can companies defend themselves against being just another number in this growing statistic.
Schedule a Free Consultation
If you’d like to learn more about protecting your business from cyber crimes, call Syndeo Communications in San Diego at (760) 750-3300 and schedule a free consultation. We are a leader in IT support in San Diego and offer comprehensive managed IT services, helping businesses with everything from Apple support to data recovery.