Tech giant IBM said in a report that Indian companies could lose Rs.11 crore to data breaches this year that is up 12.3 per cent from last year.
We can describe a breach as an event in which an individual's name and a medical/financial record is potentially put at risk- either in electronic or paper format.
Interestingly, the average cost of a data breach globally is expected to decline by 10 per cent this year to USD 3.62 million (Rs23.35 crore) compared to last year.
The study found that the average per capita cost of data breach increased from Rs.3,704 in 2016 to Rs.4,210 in 2017.
Around 41% of the Indian companies said that they experienced a data breach as a result of malicious or criminal attacks.
The remaining of the 33% experienced a data breach as a result of system glitches, while 26 per cent of data breaches involved employee or contractor negligence (i.e. human factor).
The study added, "Services, financial, industrial and technology companies had a per capita cost well above the mean of Rs.4,210, while public sector, research and transportation companies had a per capita cost well below the mean".
The study, in its sixth edition of this year, which examined the costs incurred by 39 Indian companies in 13 industry sectors.
Read Also: IBM to enhance BSE cybersecurity
IBM India/South Asia Integrated Security Leader Kartik Shahani said, "The study clearly outlines the rapidly changing threat scenario through a significant rise in both number and sophistication of breaches".
NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said, the consumption of Mobile data increase by 142% in last 3 years. He added that securing data on cloud is of top priority as cloud services have become the key for digital enterprise transformation.
"Enterprises need to ensure that robust security practices are adopted, incident response plans are in place and regular security training given to all stakeholders of the company," he said.
The study found the average number of breached records was around 33,167. Both indirect and direct costs related to data breaches have surged over the past year.
The Indirect costs increased from Rs.1,923 to Rs.2,212 per capita, which refers to the amount of time, effort and other organizational resources spent to resolve a breach.
Direct costs, rose from Rs.1,781 to Rs.1,998 per capita are expenses like purchasing a technology or hiring a consultant.
Leave Comment