More cyber attacks are causing more problems – and not only for businesses

While the threat of cyber attacks have become an increasingly prevalent issue, there are strategies that can help improve breach detection.

IBM Security’s 2022 Cost of a Data Breach Report found breaches now cost an average $3.88m per incident. Picture: Supplied

Cyber attacks have become increasingly common and disruptive – whether it’s a ransomware attack crippling a business or data breaches and leaks.

Businesses, the economy and society in general are feeling the aftermath of these incidents. Just take the Optus data breach, which has affected millions of Australians. But as the number of cyberattacks increases – amid accelerated digitisation and cybercriminals’ growing sophistication – the security skills shortage isn’t improving at the same rate.

A recent IBM study found 62 per cent of businesses that suffered a breach in the past year weren’t sufficiently staffed to meet their security needs, adding an average $320,000 to total breach costs for Australian organisations. The demand for security responders is rising but supply unfortunately remains short.

It’s not only businesses that are struggling with cyber attacks – consumers, too, are feeling the aftermath. The same study found that 60 per cent of those studied increased the price of their products and services because of a data breach they experienced, passing the cost on to customers. This creates a pricing ripple effect across their supply chain, contributing to the inflationary pressures already being experienced.

Katherine Robins is a partner at IBM Security.

Many factors can increase or help mitigate the cost of data breaches. With breaches now costing about $3.88m per incident for Australian organisations, understanding these factors may hold the key to reducing breach costs for businesses, and ultimately consumers.

If we take a closer look at IBM’s 2022 Cost of a Data Breach Report, there’s much we can learn on how businesses can reduce the impact of a breach:

How fast you detect and respond to a breach matters
The report found that there was a $1.5m cost difference in breaches for Australian organisations that were able to identify and contain
a breach in less than 200 days compared with those requiring more than 200 days. To put this into perspective, the average time Australian businesses required to detect a breach was 221 days, showing that this is an area businesses need to double down on.

Security AI & automation saves big
While certain factors exacerbate breach costs for businesses, others can make a significant difference in mitigating the damage and financial impact of a breach. Security automation surfaced as one of the largest cost-savers for organisations, with the average cost of a data breach for those that fully deploy security AI and automation reducing by almost half a million dollars. With growing skills shortages, adopting security automation helps security teams focus their time on important decisions instead of repetitive tasks.

Hybrid cloud has the advantage
Adopters of hybrid cloud are better placed to respond to a data breach with speed and cost-efficiency, helping reduce the overall cost. Organisations that adopt a hybrid cloud model can identify and contain a data breach incident quicker than others – 40 days less than the Australian average and 55 days less than solely private cloud adopters.

Zero trust pays off
Shifting your security mindset to one of zero-trust can go a long way in helping mitigate breach impact. The study found that organisations that don’t deploy a zero-trust approach incur an average of $1m in greater breach costs compared with those that do use a zero-trust approach. The more businesses struggle to detect and contain breaches before they’re able to cause significant damage, the more we will continue to see these costs bleed into other facets of our lives.

What’s clear is that the right strategies coupled with the right technologies can make all the difference in the final “breach bill” the business is left with – we need only act on this information to be better prepared.

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Katherine Robins is a partner at IBM Security.