Skip to main content

Data breach costs rise by more than a quarter in a year

Published on: 29 May 2018

The financial cost of a single data breach to an organisation is on the rise again, a new survey suggests.

According to the 6,614 respondents who took part in Kaspersky Lab’s Corporate IT Security Risks survey, the average cost of a data breach now amounts to $1.23 million (£920,556) for large enterprises (up 24 per cent from $992,000 in 2017) and $120,000 for small to medium businesses (SMBs), which is a 36 per cent rise from $88,000 in 2017.

The report identifies how businesses are adjusting IT security spending to respond to the changing cyber threat landscape and the financial impact of cyber attacks when they occur.

It shows that enterprises and SMBs are showing growth in prioritising IT security spending with a three percentage point rise in 2018.

Enterprise companies are allocating up to $8.9 million on average - or around a quarter of their IT budgets - to cyber security, which Kaspersky says is redefining the strategic role of corporate data protection.

For SMBs globally, this equates to $246,000 on average, or 23 per cent of their overall IT budget. 

Maxim Frolov, vice president of global sales at Kaspersky Lab, said the report’s findings suggest that cyber security has finally been elevated from a simple IT cost to a legitimate boardroom issue and a business priority for companies of all sizes.

“Businesses expect a strong payoff as the stakes continue to get higher: besides traditional cyber security risks, many companies now have to deal with growing regulatory pressures,” he commented.