IBM: Data Breach Costs Hit All-Time High

The newly released Cost of a Data Breach Report by IBM Security shows costlier and higher-impact data breaches than ever before, with the global average cost at an all-time high of $4.35 million.

With breach costs increasing nearly 13% over the last two years, breaches are also contributing to rising costs of goods and services. Sixty percent of studied organizations raised their product or services prices due to the breach, when the cost of goods is already soaring worldwide amid inflation and supply chain issues.

The report also finds that 83% of studied organizations have experienced more than one data breach in their lifetime. Another factor rising over time is the after-effects of breaches on these organizations, which linger long after they occur, as nearly 50% of breach costs are incurred more than a year after the breach.

Among other findings in the report, ransomware victims in the study that opted to pay threat actors’ ransom demands saw only $610,000 less in average breach costs compared to those that chose not to pay – not including the cost of the ransom. Factoring in the high cost of ransom payments, the financial toll may rise even higher, suggesting that simply paying the ransom may not be an effective strategy, according to the report.

Participating organizations fully deploying security AI and automation incurred $3.05 million less on average in breach costs compared to studied organizations that have not deployed the technology – the biggest cost saver observed in the study.

“Businesses need to put their security defenses on the offense and beat attackers to the punch,” said Charles Henderson, Global Head of IBM Security X-Force. “The more businesses try to perfect their perimeter instead of investing in detection and response, the more breaches can fuel cost of living increases.”

The 2022 Cost of a Data Breach Report is based on in-depth analysis of real-world data breaches experienced by 550 organizations globally between March 2021 and March 2022. The research, which was sponsored and analyzed by IBM Security, was conducted by the Ponemon Institute.

Channel Impact^®
The report underscores the continuing growth an importance of the IT security opportunity.