Nearly Half of All Businesses Hit By Costly Data Breaches: Report

A recent report from the Poneman Institute reveals that nearly half – 47 percent – of all businesses have been hit by a data breach. The security breaches involved attacks “that compromised the networks or enterprise systems,” and included hacking attacks from outsiders, according to The Second Annual Study on Exchanging Cyber Threat Intelligence: There Has to Be a Better Way.

Nearly 700 (692) IT and IT security practitioners were surveyed for the report.

The cost of data breaches due to malicious or criminal attacks is an astounding $217 per record, an amount that can cripple many businesses.

According to other Ponemon Institute findings:

• 45% of Senior executives surveyed say their company experiences cyber attacks hourly or daily

• 60% of employees circumvent security features on their mobile devices

• 68% of US companies permit employee-owned devices in the workplace

• 66% of employees surveyed downloaded mobile apps without permission

These statistics are even more alarming when you take into account that there are more than 66,956 vulnerabilities that hackers can use to walk right into your website. In fact, an incredible 86% of websites fail their first vulnerability scan, meaning most sites are prime hacking targets. A security breach could destroy your reputation, cost you millions in fines, rack up legal fees, and upset the FTC.

But don’t panic. There are ways to protect your hard-earned cash and your business. As an industry leader in website security, Trust Guard is used by thousands of well-known brands and trusted by billions of online shoppers to. Learn more at trust-guard.com.