Data Breaches Are More Costly Than Ever - February 4, 2009 By Brian Krebs Washington Post February 3, 2009 "Organizations that experienced a data breach in 2008 paid an average of $6.6 million last year to rebuild their brand image and retain customers, according to a new study. "Ponemon Institute, a Tucson-based research firm, looked at 43 organizations that reported a data breach last year and found that roughly $202 was spent on each consumer record compromised. The average number of consumer records exposed in each breach was about 33,000, although the number of records affected in each incident ranged from fewer than 4,200 to more than 113,000. "Eighty-four percent of the companies surveyed had at least one data breach or loss prior to 2008[.] ... The cost of a breach in 2007 was $6.3 million, and roughly $4.7 million in 2006." To read the full article, click on the Title Line, above. NOTE: Online access to Washington Post articles requires registration, including one-time entry of gender, birth year & zip code. The process is free and takes a few minutes to complete.