Data breaches have increased by 12 percent within the past five years, with the healthcare industry experiencing the highest costs at $6.5 million on average per breach, according to IBM Security's recent report.
For the IBM Security-sponsored 2019 Cost of a Data Breach report, Ponemon Institute conducted interviews with more than 500 global companies that suffered a data breach in the past year. The study accounts for cost factors such as legal, regulatory and technical activities.
Five report insights:
1. Since 2014, the cost of a data breach has increased 12 percent at $3.92 million on average.
2. For the ninth consecutive year, healthcare organizations had the highest cost of a breach at $6.5 million on average, which is more than 60 percent above the average cost for other industries examined in the study.
3. Data breaches cost companies approximately $150 per record that gets compromised.
4. More than 50 percent of data breaches in the report were the result of malicious cyberattacks, which cost the companies $1 million more on average than breaches originating from accidental causes.
5. While approximately 67 percent of data breach costs were realized within the first year post-breach, 22 percent accrued during the second year followed by 11 percent more than two years later.
To access the full report, click here.