UK data breaches on the rise
2008 came with a 10 percent growth in data breaches for UK companies. Seven out of ten reported such an incident last year, up from a 60% incidence rate reported in 2007. The new data was released in a recent survey conducted by the Ponemon Institute.
The Institute’s findings also revealed that 12% of 615 public and private sector organizations were hit by no less than five data breaches in 2008. Only 43% of the occurrences were reported, as reporting the rest was not mandatory. Here are more interesting findings of the survey:
- Public sector (4.48 breaches per organization) and financial services firms (3.11 breaches) were the worst affected
- entertainment, media and defense firms stayed clear of data loss incidents
- One third of the unaffected firms had introduced a corporate encryption policy
- 57% of UK firms use some encryption technology
How much do these breaches cost? The Register quotes a separate Ponemon Institute study that estimates that one compromised record costs abut 60 pounds.
The good news? The rise in data breaches also fueled the rise in awareness when it comes to the importance of proactively securing sensitive data. 61% of the surveyed companies said data protection was either “important” or “very important” in wider risk management efforts.
