Hackers Can Cost Your Business a Small Fortune

Most people think that crime doesn't pay, but that's not what the numbers say. When hackers steal from others, they are leeching countless dollars from the world just to satisfy their own goals. This has worldwide effects on the economy and the tech industry, not to mention what it can do to your business.

Due to the nature of the cybercrime, it's difficult to determine the precise amount of money hackers steal from each business, or even the overall loss to the economy associated with hacking. In the long run, how much money do you think hackers cost your business?

Crunching Numbers
Reports and surveys won't do you much good if you're trying to determine how much your company loses annually from hacking attacks. All you will find are rough ideas of how much money is lost, and several different definitions of hacking and what the costs really amount to. In the Poneman Institute's study titled 2013 Cost of Data Breach Study: Global Analysis, the reasons data breaches occur are chronicled for different countries around the world. There are also business costs for how much a data breach costs companies globally, including detection and investigation costs, and how much money is lost by paralegal reparations.

Data Breach Variables
There are a lot of reasons that data breaches happen, as well as several factors which contribute to how much money is actually lost during a data breach. Some companies were able to avoid catastrophe and suffer minimal loss, while others who weren't prepared for such an occurrence suffered dearly:

• Was the company prepared with an incident plan? Believe it or not, being prepared for disaster can really save your business money in the event of a data breach. According to the report, companies who took proper steps to prepare for such a problem saved United States companies up to $42/capita.
• How secure is the company's security policy? If a business is known for having an effective security system in place, it was less likely to lose big from a hacking attack. Whether a company is secure or not is judged by a Security Effectiveness Score (SES). Those with a high SES saved up to $34/capita.
• Has a chief information security officer (CISO) been appointed? By putting someone in charge of keeping information secure, businesses were able to minimize the amount of damage done by potential hackers. Keeping a CISO on board lowered the costs of data breaches by $23/capita.
• Was data lost by a third-party error? Whether it's your company's fault or someone else's fault is a tricky question. A lot of the time, third-party error can be a cause for data breach costs. In 2013, third-party organizations were estimated to have lost $43/capita per record.
• Were victims notified promptly? Regulations often exist which dictate a timely notification of a data breach, but these don't exist in all countries. Ironically, if victims are notified of data breaches earlier rather than later, the total costs are higher. In the United States, quick notification led to $37/capita per record being lost.
• How many devices were stolen? If you're trying to determine the costs of a data breach, you need to take into account the value of items like phones or laptops. While the United Kingdom topped the chart at $15/capita per item in losses, the United States suffered a $10/capita loss per item.
• Was a professional consultant engaged to resolve the issue? Those who hired an outside consultant for their security concerns saved up to $13/capita per record. In addition to saving money, the consultants also helped limit the scope of the problem and resolve it effectively and efficiently.

One common aspect of these variables is present - the level of preparation which the company took to mitigate the damage done by data breaches. If you don't take proper steps to protect yourself from the danger that lurks on the outside, you're likely to experience a lot more pain. If you want a data security consultant that can mitigate data breach costs for your business, contact k_Street Consulting, LLC at (202) 640-2737. We'll make sure your business is properly protected and ready to recover in the event of a breach.