While certain industries have higher data breach costs, the below average record costs are straight from the 2016 Cost of Data Breach U.S. Study sponsored by IBM and the Ponemon Research Institute.
Public: $86
Hospitality: 148
Research: $172
Media: $177
Industrial: $186
Technology: $198
Retail: $200
Consumer: $216
Education: $220
Services: $226
Communications: $245
Energy: $246
Transportation: $247
Financial: $264
Life science: $301
Healthcare: $402
How are these costs calculated? The study states that to calculate the average cost of data breach, Ponemon collects both the direct and indirect expenses incurred by the organization. Direct expenses include engaging forensic experts, outsourcing hotline support and providing free credit monitoring subscriptions and discounts for future products and services. Indirect costs include inhouse investigations and communication, as well as the extrapolated value of customer loss resulting from turnover or diminished customer acquisition rates.
What is missing from these record costs? Defense costs; regulatory defense, fines and penalties; compensatory damages or redress funds; and revenue loss.
Does your company have cyber insurance? Based upon these average record costs, and the number of records your company hosts, perhaps now is a good time to consider purchasing cyber insurance.
For help with your company’s cyber insurance, please complete our cyber insurance quote request form or give us a call.