UK bucks trend as data breach costs fall by 16%
The cost of a data breach has become higher than ever, with a new report suggesting organisations are now paying an average of almost $4.5 million to deal with them. While many global economies are seeing the cost of breaches ramp up, however, the UK has seen a 16% drop over the last 12 months.
In 2017, a study by IBM Consulting found that among hundreds of businesses around the world, the average cost of a data breach had hit $3.6 million. That has continued to rise steadily since then – only shrinking briefly during the pandemic – and now stands at a record $4.45 million.
The research was carried out by Ponemon Institute on behalf of IBM, and examined data breaches at 553 organizations in 17 different industries across 16 countries and regions over 12 months leading to March 2023. On average, the global study found that the cost of a breach has risen by 15% over the last three years in particular.
The lockdown months saw many employers hastily roll out digital systems to enable their employees to work from home. Over time, this has seen a growing number of cyber-criminals look to find weaknesses in the defences of companies across the industrial spectrum – and while financial services operators remain one of the leading targets, hackers are finding a far greater deal of joy elsewhere.
According to IBM, financial firms actually saw the value of breaches fall leading to 2023, from a little under $6 million, to 5.9 million. In stark contrast, healthcare operators saw the value of breaches continue to rocket upward – from $10.1 million to $10.9 million, an increase of 8.2%. Other sectors which are being eyed most dramatically as opportunities by hackers were transport, communications, media and the public sector – where the value of the data breached rose substantially in 2023. Only prompt action can buck this trend, according to the researchers.
“Security teams must focus on where adversaries are the most successful and concentrate their efforts on stopping them before they achieve their goals,” said Chris McCurdy, general manager with IBM Security Services. “Investments in threat detection and response approaches that accelerate defenders speed and efficiency – such as AI and automation – are crucial to shifting this balance.”
While global costs of breaches rose by 15%, though, this was by no means a uniform rise. US respondents told researchers the average breach was costing them $9.48 million – twice the global rate, and a rise of 0.4% year-on-year – while those based in the Middle East are rapidly gaining on the market; the cost of a breach there ballooning by 8% to $8.07 million over the last year. There are many factors at play in this, but it is notable that both economic regions have been notoriously cavalier about their adoption of potentially risky innovations, such as cryptocurrency, the metaverse and automated administration – and this may have left their systems more open to exploitation.
In contrast, the cost of data breaches in Europe seems to largely be falling. Of Germany, the UK, France, Italy, and Scandinavia, only Italy was found by IBM to be seeing a rise in the cost of breaches. Meanwhile, the UK bucked the global trend notably by seeing its cost fall by more than 16% over the last year, to sit at an average of $4.21 million – reflecting a feeling among 80% of businesses that even as they are worried about cyber-security, they are more prepared for a breach than ever.
Commenting on what it takes to turn the tide further against cyber-crime, McCurdy added, “Time is the new currency in cybersecurity both for the defenders and the attackers. As the report shows, early detection and fast response can significantly reduce the impact of a breach.”
