Someone finally assigned a dollar value for security breach that we can relate to. Not in millions or billions or gazillions, but in three figures - $204 per lost record. This is according to a recent report by the Poneman Institute. At 66%, loss of business is the biggest cost. Customers lose trust. Then there's the cost of spin to control bad publicity.
What can companies do to minimize costs? It helps to put a chief information security officer at the helm. It also helps to keep up to date on the most advanced firewalls and penetration software. There will always be someone who thinks he's a better hacker. Oh, and for those who like figures in the millions, the average cost to an organization is $3.43 million. The figure of $204 per record is for the U.S. because of notification laws, but the sum varies among nations. Read the Ponemon Institute's "2009 Annual Study: Cost of a Data Breach" http://www.encryptionreports.com/.
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