Rippleshot Blog

Data breaches are expensive for banks, merchants, and consumers, but just how costly are they? A new report from Ponemon Institute breaks down today’s security landscape in its new ‘Cost of Data Breach Study’. We pulled out some of the highlights and interesting facts below.

Let’s start with the good news…The study shows the global average cost of a data breach is $3.62 million – down 10% compared to previous years. The not so good news? The average size of the data breach, according to this research, increased 1.8%.

The cost of a breach is dependent on many factors, including location. There were significant increases in the cost for organizations in the Middle East, United States and Japan, while organizations in Germany, France, Australia and the UK reduced costs associated with responding to and remediating the breach.  

Artificial intelligence has secured its spot in the FinTech ecosystem — making machine learning the chief AI advancement for companies to watch, particularly as it relates to cybersecurity and fraud mitigation efforts for financial institutions.

Need more proof? Just follow the money.

Companies are spending capital hand over fist on researching, developing, and implementing AI and machine learning technology. In 2016, $5 billion in venture capital investments went toward machine learning alone, and corporate investment in AI overall is predicted to triple in 2017. Not keeping up? Now may be the time to invest in machine learning tech. 

“How confident are you in your company’s or client’s ability to respond to a cyberattack? What threats are keeping you up at night, and are you prepared to handle them if they strike?”

These are the types of questions addressed by Advisen and Experian in their recently released 2017 Cyber Risk Preparedness and Response Survey. The research includes responses from 307 risk managers, insurance brokers, and legal experts. The end result: a well-organized collection of valuable insights into the evolving cybersecurity landscape.  

The fallout suffered by companies that experience data breaches is expansive, but one of the largest areas of impact is customer trust. Brand value is greatly lowered in the event of a security breach — even when decisive action is taken to shut down the fraudulent activity and minimize the damage as quickly as possible. And while brand value can be difficult to quantify, several studies have revealed the effects of data breaches on consumer trust — a key indicator of a brand's strength.