The latest 2013 Cost of Data Breach report has been published by the Ponemon Institute (sponsored by Symantec) and as always, reveals some interesting and valuable insight into the real-life cost when a data breach occurs.

The report draws on data collected throughout 2012 and examines the costs experienced by 277 organizations across 9 countries.

To save you time, we have highlighted the key statistics for the US, UK, and Australia.

Global Summary

The full global report is located here

United States (amounts shown in USD)

  • The average cost per compromised record is $188 USD (down from $194 in 2011)
  • Ranked #1 for the highest average total organizational cost at $5,403,644
  • Ranked #1 for the highest average notification cost at $565,020
  • Ranked #1 for highest average flow-on cost (ex-post) at $1,412,548
  • Ranked #1 for average lost business costs at $3,030,814
  • US organizations experienced greater impact if the breach is caused by a 3rd party error (increased per-record cost by up to $43)
  • US organizations Experienced less customer churn after a data breach compared to other countries (2.8%)

A copy of the United States report is available here

United Kingdom (amounts shown in GBP)

  • The average cost per compromised record is £86 (up from £79 in 2011)
  • The average total organizational cost was £2,040,000
  • The average notification cost was £160,000 (up from £140,000 in 2011)
  • The average flow-on cost (ex-post) was £510,000 (up from £450,000 in 2011)
  • The average lost business costs was £920,000 (up from £780,000 in 2011)
  • UK businesses experienced higher customer churn of 3.1% after a data breach compared to the US and Japan

The complete United Kingdom report is located here.

Australia (amounts shown in AUD)

  • The average cost per compromised record is $141 (up from $138 in 2011)
  • The average total organisational cost was $2,720,000 (up from $2,160,000 in 2011)
  • The average notification cost was $88,000 (up from $76,000 in 2011)
  • The average flow-on cost (ex-post) was $810,000 (up from $470,000 in 2011)
  • The average lost business costs was $780,000 (down from $840,000 in 2011)
  • Australia experienced the highest average number of breached records at 34,249.
  • Australia had the second highest detection and escalation cost of $1,400,000 (up from $770,000 in 2011)
  • Australian businesses experienced 2nd highest customer churn rate of 4.0% after a data breach, second only to France.

The complete Australia report is located here.

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