The cost of each IT Security breach will vary considerably for each business. Such factors as the type and sensitivity of information the cyber criminals gained access to, how long it takes the business to secure this information, how long the system is down, how that contributes to lost revenue, the damage done to the firm’s reputation, the effect on potential future revenue will contribute to the overall cost.

Figures released in a UK Government survey on IT security can give us some guidelines. Several individual breaches ended up costing businesses over £1 million (€1.17 million). The average cost of a large organisations (over 250 employees) worst breach of the year was between £450k to £850k (€525k to €995k) and for a small business (less than 50 employees) was between £35k to 65k (€41k to €76k). In the US, 60% of small businesses close within 6 months of a cyber-attack according to recent study cited by the U.S. House Small Business Subcommittee on Health and Technology.

Businesses of all sizes need to take IT security very seriously to avoid such consequences. At Topsec Technology we offer a wide range of IT security services such as business antivirus software to prevent the risks from cyber-attacks. For more information about the IT security services we offer, contact Topsec Technology.

Sources: UK Government IT Security Report