A recent B2B International survey undertaken on behalf of Kaspersky Lab showed the rise in the average cost of an enterprise-level data breach from $1.23 million (2018) to $1.41 million.
The elevated risk of a data breach and the growing costs of remediation has prompted enterprises to put in more money in cybersecurity. According to the Kaspersky Global Corporate IT Security Risks Survey, the average budget for IT security in 2018 was $8.9 million. The average budget now is $18.9 million.
The major costs associated with a data breach include the following: the ruin of the company’s credit ranking and higher insurance charges, the cost of getting external security experts, loss of business, brand recovery, extra wages for internal personnel, settlement, and financial fines and regulatory penalties.
Although there are a number of things businesses can do to reduce data breach costs, the choosing of a focused Data Protection Officer (DPO) and having an internal Security Operations Center (SOC) are the two most crucial steps for reducing cyber attack-related costs.
A DPO is responsible for making and employing a data protection method and checking and managing compliance problems. 34% of businesses that had a DPO stated that security incidents at their firm did not bring about financial losses, in comparison to 20% of all businesses.
The average cost of a data breach at a firm that has an internal SOC was $675,000, which is less than half the cost of a breach at a firm with no internal SOC. The comparable cost at big SMBs (with 500+ employees) was $129,000. Having an internal SOC to track and respond to security problems, the data breach cost was cut down to $106,000.
Based on the survey, data breach costs for enterprises increase when security is outsourced to managed service providers. 23% of companies that used an MSP had data breach costs ranging from $100,000 to $249,000, compared to 19% of companies having an in-house IT security team.
Employing a DPO and establishing an internal SOC can help in reducing the probability of a data breach happening, but it does not mean that would stop all data breaches. With these key people in position, it prepares the company if a breach does happen. The response will be quick and efficient keeping the expenses to a minimum.
Choosing a DPO and personnel for an internal SOC, and buying the tools to help that personnel may be a cumbersome and pricey process, however, the survey reveals investment in crucial internal security personnel is definitely advantageous and can significantly lessen the costs associated with data breaches. 61% of businesses and SMBs in the U.S are considering to increase investment in professional IT staff in the following 12 months.