In the past few years alone, it’s estimated that, in the United States, more than 900 million records of personally identifiable information (PII) have been stolen. While calculating the financial impact of thefts of this magnitude may seem, at first, overwhelming, it possible to review the data and establish some benchmarks, as has been shown in the 2016 Cost of Data Breach Study conducted by the Ponemon Institute and IBM. The study, which examines costs incurred by 64 U.S. businesses across 16 industry sectors, is the 11th annual benchmark study to report on the cost of data breach incidents.

During this presentation, Mr. Allor will provide a recap of the findings of this 11th annual benchmark study on the cost of data breach incidents for companies located in the U.S. Some findings of note include:

• The average cost for each lost or stolen record containing sensitive and confidential information increased from $217 to $221

• The total average cost that organizations paid increased from $6.53 million to $7.01 million

The findings make it clear that data breaches are a real and growing financial threat to businesses. And, fortunately, the cost resolving the breaches can be avoided by proactively implementing new or improving existing cybersecurity solutions. The potential for breaches and the average cost of data recovery found in the study, can also help businesses project the cost upgrading their cybersecurity program.