The economic impact of protecting data cannot be measured solely with traditional financial metrics. The real impact is far more wide reaching, as detailed in a recent IBM report, “Security Cost of a Data Breach.”Sure, the bottom line always takes a hit when there’s a data breach. The IBM study reported that lost revenue due to system downtime accounts for the largest swath of costs related to a data breach, with an average total cost of $1.59 million.But other factors contribute to the economic damage including:

• Losing customers resulting from breach-related disruption
• Replacing customers lost to a breach fallout
• Diminished reputation amplifying the effects of the first two factors

Breaches also generate large atypical operational costs, according to the report. For instance:

• 29% of the $4.24-million average total cost of a security incident goes to detecting and tracking incursions, then escalating the response internally and externally with specialized services.
• 27%, or $1.14 million per breach, goes to containment, eradication and disaster recovery processes.
• About 6% of the average cost goes to notifying customers, partners and regulatory agencies.

How can you contain these costs? Implementing a zero-trust framework can certainly help. This approach offers the following benefits:

• Logs and inspects all your network traffic
• Limits and controls network access
• Verifies and secures network resources

IBM researchers reported that “mature zero trust” cybersecurity practices saved organizations $1.76 million per breach, compared to companies without these measures.Want to “mature” your zero-trust strategy? We’re here to help. Just give us a call.