2019 proved to be the worst year for organizations in terms of losses due to data breaches. The typical data loss for a large company is anywhere between 10 and 99 million records per incident, that result in an average company value drop of 7.27%. The costs only increase if a data breach infringes GDPR guidelines. We highlight the correlation of losses with respect to time to recovery while providing insights on thwarting future breaches.
Some astounding revelations in terms of data breachesOpens a new window came to light in a research analysisOpens a new window by iomart. The research approximates the direct proportionality between a data breach and the time it takes for its identification and containment.
iomart states that, “the faster a data breach can be identified and resolved, the lower the costsâ€.
In 2019, 479 data records were lost or stolen on average per second, where the average cost of per record/lost stolen is calculated to be $150. Further, an average 187 days were needed just to identify and an additional 59 to complete appropriate containment actions.
At this rate, attackers will have a field day in 2020 with most people working remotely and relying on the internet to get work done.
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Large companies stare at a loss of anywhere between 10 to 99 million records per incident, whose implications range from financial, operational, and reputational, not to mention user privacy related. Based on the report, a data breach of this size would result in an average company value drop of 7.27%. Bill Strain, Product Development Director at iomart said, “Many smaller businesses wouldn’t surviveOpens a new window the operational impact of a successful cyber-attack, let alone the financial one of a punishing fine on top.â€
Moving on, a shocking 60% companies admitted to being breached in the last two years alone.
Why You Are a Target and How to Mitigate Data Breaches
So, how can you make sure that your organization fends off malicious activities resulting in data breaches and all the negative connotations associated with them?
Strain has an answer for you. He said, “Looking at your potential risk and knowing where your data is, controlling who has access to it, and making sure it’s secure should be an absolute priority. It’s still the case that most cyber-attacks start by exploiting our human vulnerability. By training staff to spot suspicious emails or links you can lock the front door and then use technological solutions to ensure the hackers can’t get in around the back.â€
Organizations can also:
- Marginalize accessibility and privileges
- Train staff on the nuances of threat recognition (after all, a study indicated 22% are caused by human error)
- Perform data backups regularly
- Segregate sensitive data from generic data and store them separately
- Update systems (software as well as hardware) regularly keeping in mind future requirements
- Secure network and email gateways
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