2014 Cost of Data Breach Study

From Ponemon Institute, sponsored by IBM10 reports, 11 countries. Industry-leading benchmarks.

Quantifying the cost of a data breach

Click on a flag to register for a country-specific report.

IBM is proud to sponsor the ninth annual Cost of Data Breach Study, the industry’s gold-standard benchmark research independently conducted by Ponemon Institute. More than 250 organizations from these eleven countries participated in this year’s study: Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States and, for the first time, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Although findings differ from country to country, the study reveals some general trends that have significant implications for organizations across the globe:

The cost of a data breach is on the rise. Most countries saw an uptick in both in the cost per stolen or lost record and in the average total cost of a breach.
Fewer customers remain loyal after a breach, particularly in the financial services industry.
For many countries, malicious or criminal attacks have taken the top spot as the root cause of the data breaches experienced by participating companies.
For the first time, the research reveals that having business continuity management involved in the remediation of a breach can help reduce the cost.

With up to nine years of data to work with, the Ponemon Cost of Data Breach Study offers detailed trending information on the cost of a data breach based on study participants’ actual experience with a data breach involving 1,000 to 100,000 compromised records. The cost measurement includes direct, indirect and opportunity costs associated with an organization’s response to the theft or loss of personal information.

Register to download a country-specific report by clicking on the map at the top of this page. For a worldwide perspective plus additional findings on the security threats behind data breaches and the role of business continuity management in the security landscape, register to download the global report.