In 2023, the average cost of a data breach has reached a record high of US$ 4.45 million, a 2% increase compared to 2022.
The information comes from the 2023 cost of a data breach report by IBM and the Ponemon institute.
The study takes into account hundreds of cost factors from legal, regulatory, and technical activities, loss of brand equity, customer turnover, and drain on employee productivity.
This is based on 550 breaches across 17 countries and 17 industries with data gathered from over 3,600 interviews.
It found remote work creates additional security risks as employees are more likely to use unprotected devices and connect to unsecured public networks.
At least 20% of businesses went through a data breach caused by remote workers. As reported by IBM, the average data breach cost is $1 million higher in companies where remote work is common.
It also takes 58 days longer for such organizations to discover and contain data breaches.
How can you prevent this? Make it so your remote workers access corporate resources from corporate devices only. They should only interact with them with a VPN turned on.
About 60% of attacks succeed because average employees make mistakes. This is why companies need to help employees understand the importance of cybersecurity.
