SAN FRANCISCO (USA Today) – The average cost of a computer breach at large companies globally was $3.79 million, a survey released Wednesday found. For U.S.-based companies, the average cost was much higher, $6.5 million.
The survey was conducted by the Ponemon Institute, a security research center, in conjunction with IBM. It surveyed 350 companies in 11 countries that had experienced a data breach, mostly in 2014. In the United States, 62 companies participated in the survey.
“The cost of a data breach, both the total organization cost as well as the cost per compromised record, increased substantially,” said Larry Ponemon, chair of the institute.
Globally it has risen 23% since 2013. In the United States it’s up 11%.
The average cost per lost or stolen record in the United States was $217. Globally the cost was $154.