Security breaches cost organizations around the world millions of dollars each year. The average cost of each breach is upwards of $6 million according to a report from the Ponemon Institute, and perhaps more concerning, 50 percent of organizations surveyed were not confident in their security programs. Additionally, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) just released a study estimating that cybercrime costs the global economy upwards of $445 billion annually. This comes at a time when spam, long thought to be a problem of the past, has increased to its largest levels in two and a half years as a key channel of intrusion into corporate networks according to IBM’s recent X-force findings.
Yet, none of these figures include the subsequent loss of business or diminished brand reputation, which can have a greater long-term impact. The same Ponemon study found that 61 percent of respondents feel data theft and cybercrime are the greatest threats to their reputation.