“The latest U.S. Cost of a Data Breach Study… indicates a significant increase in not only the out of pocket cost of data breach incidents, but also the cost of lost business created by the turnover of customers due to the breach.”
At $202 per comprised customer, U.S. companies have felt the brunt of data breaches. Companies that have suffered the most from data breaches are healthcare and financial services type businesses.
In 2008, the average cost for these incidents was $6.65 million. And the most damaging effect is lost business averaging $4.59 million or $139 per record compromised.
Surprisingly, 49% of companies who responded to a current study stated that most breaches actually came from the theft or loss of paper documents, not electronic generated documents.
Source: S. H. Smith & Company, Inc.
