Data breaches have cost Indian enterprises ₹12.8 crore on an average during the first half of calendar 2019, a 7.29% increase compared with a year ago.
Each employee incurred a loss of ₹5,019 on account of lost data or stolen record, an increase of 9.76% from the prior year, said a study conducted by IBM Security in association with Ponemon Institute.
Some 45 enterprises across segments were part of the India leg of the study. By per capital cost, industrial, pharmaceuticals, technology, and financial sectors were the top affected verticals, found the study.
The mean time to identify the data breach increased from 188 to 221 days; however, the mean time to contain the data breach decreased from 78 to 77 days, said the study.
The root cause for 51% of data breaches was malicious or criminal attacks, and it cost companies $1 million more on average than those originating from accidental causes. System glitches accounted for 27% of data breaches while human errors accounted for 22%.
Commenting on the findings, Vaidyanathan Iyer, security software leader, IBM India/south Asia said: “India is witnessing a significant change in the nature of cybercrimes; it is now extremely organised and collaborative. The cost of data breach continues to grow year after year.”
Firms with less than 500 employees suffered losses of more than $2.5 million on an average – a potentially crippling amount for small businesses, which typically earn $50 million or less in annual revenue, said the study.
“The findings highlight the fact it is critical for organisations to invest in risk assessment, cognitive threat, management and building digital trust to beef up cyber security,” added Mr. Iyer.
