Breaches cost $204 per record.

• Position: STUDY

A recent study from the Ponemon Institute reveals hat the cost of a data breach continues to increase. The fifth annual "U.S. Cost of a Data Breach Study" found that data breaches cost U.S. firms $204 per compromised record in 2009, up from $202 in 2008. According to Network World, when the Ponemon Institute began its study five years ago, the cost per compromised record was $138.

While the number of reported breaches actually fell (498 in 2009 vs. 657 in 2008, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center), the average total per-incident cost increased from $6.65 million in 2008 to $6.75 million in 2009, according to the study.

Sponsored by PGP Corp., the study tracked several cost factors related to a breach, including the cost of detection, escalation, notification, and response, along with legal, investigative, and administrative fees, customer losses, opportunity loss, reputation management, and costs associated with customer support, such as information hotlines and credit monitoring subscriptions. The survey reviewed breaches that involved between 5,000 and 101,000 records from 15 different industry sectors. Estimates were based on data from 45 companies that publicly acknowledged a breach of sensitive customer data last year.

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The study also found that:

* The cost of a data breach as the result of malicious attacks and bothers were more costly and severe.

* Negligent insider breaches have decreased in number and cost, likely because training and awareness programs...