CompTIA has recently reported new IT security statistics. They say that the number of IT security breaches is down but the level of severity is up. In their survey, CompTIA found that the average cost of a security breach across all companies surveyed was $368,288. This number was driven by a number of firms that estimated their costs over $10 million. Approximately half of the respondents estimated that the cost of an IT security breach was $10,000 or less.
These firms broke down their costs of security breaches:
- Employee productivity affected – 35%
- Server or network downtime – 21%
- Revenue-generating activities changed – 20%
- Physical assets impacted – 17%
- Legal fees and/or fines – 8%
(Wireless Week, October 15, 2007, p. 38)
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.