This global study examines 383 companies in 12 countries. It finds that $4 million is the average total cost of a data breach. It sees a 29% increase in total costs of data breaches since 2013. It finds that $158 is the average cost per lost or stolen record. Finally, there has been a 15% increase in per capita cost since 2013.

This year’s study examines the costs incurred by 62 U.S. companies in 16 industry sectors after those companies experienced the loss or theft of protected personal data and then had to notify breach victims as required by various laws. It is important to note the costs presented in this research are not hypothetical, but are from actual data loss incidents. They are based upon cost estimates provided by individuals, interviewed over a ten-month period in the companies that are represented in this research

In this report, they examine two factors that affected the financial consequences of a data breach. The first is executive involvement in their organization’s IT security strategy and response to data breaches. The second is the purchase of cyber insurance to mitigate the cost of a data breach.

This is a useful article that takes a look at the financial numbers of paying for a defensive strategy vs. paying for a breach. Perfect for accountants, and those who need to understand data from a purely financial side.

This research will take a look at how the ransomware types work, not just from a technological point of view but also from a psychological viewpoint. This report will also look at how these threats evolved, what factors are at play to make ransomware the major problem that it is today, and where ransomware is likely to surface next.

This is Mary Meeker’s annual report on Internet Trends.

This annual report offers a quick view of data breach trends for mid-year 2015.

This “Just in Time” research is in response to recent discussions on the EDUCAUSE Higher Education Information Security Council (HEISC) discussion list about data breaches in higher education. Using data from the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, this research analyzes data breaches attributed to higher education. The results from this review will be used to inform EDUCAUSE research, programs, products, and services.

This is Redspin’s 6th annual Breach Report: Protected Health Information (PHI). At the conclusion of each year, they analyze the complete statistical data set of large breaches that have been reported to HHS. In the report, they assess the overall effectiveness of the current policies and controls designed to safeguard PHI. In 2105, they identify significant trends and draw attention to the specific areas most in need of improvement. They then offer Redspin’s recommendations for preventive measures and corrective actions to address any critical gaps or weaknesses. Their goal is to help the healthcare industry continually improve its ability to protect patient information.

Through analysis of public breach data, a useful picture of the threat landscape can be observed. Analyzing trends, it may be possible to predict the general scale of expected breaches in the near future and frame those impacts in a meaningful way for individuals. This will hopefully serve to highlight the importance of good security practices and bring attention to the “personal supply chain” problem – that the companies where individuals maintain accounts and trust with personal information are part of the attack surface they create for themselves and the risk of such behavior needs to be weighed against the benefits gained.