Data breaches may be up, but costs are down.

• Position: DATA SECURITY - Brief article - Statistical data

For the first time in seven years, the cost of data breaches has decreased. This was revealed by a study released this spring by Symantec and the Ponemon Institute.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The average cost of a data breach in 2011 was $5.5 million, 24% less than in 2010, according to the 2011 "U.S. Cost of a Data Breach" study. In addition, the cost per compromised record dropped 10% to $194.

Lost-business costs are a major contributor to the total cost. This includes abnormal turnover of customers, increased customer acquisition costs, reputation losses, and diminished goodwill.

This cost area has decreased 34% compared to 2010. The report said not as many consumers are leaving organizations that have suffered breaches as readily as in the past. Not surprisingly, churn levels differ from one industry to the other, with healthcare and financial services organizations experiencing higher customer turnover.

Another reason for the decrease is that organizations have improved their...