How to reduce the cost of a data breach & other key takeaways from Kaspersky’s 2021 predictions

Kaspersky, a global leader in cyber security since 1997, recently released some corporate IT security predictions for 2021 as part of their IT economics series (we’ll call it the report). It contains interesting role-specific nuggets, as well as a helpful calculator for company IT spend – so it’s worth reading in full. But, here are the key takeaways we drew from the report:

Ways to reduce the cost of a data breach

Part 2 of the report identified four features that can help keep the costs of security breaches down. They are:

• Early detection: breaches cost enterprises 32% less when they’re detected early than if they go undetected for a week. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) benefit from a 17% reduction in average cost for early detection. 
• Enterprises who provided proactive disclosure generally suffered 28% less financial damage than if data subjects heard about the breach via the media. The cost for SMEs was 40% less where proactive disclosure occurred. 
• Outdated technologies (software and hardware) result in substantially higher costs for breaches. You can expect the cost of a breach for an outdated system to be at least 47% higher than if you are using current technologies. 
• A culture of data collection is costly for companies which experience a breach. Data breaches cost enterprises 62% more when customer data is exposed. 

Check out our blog post about mitigating your losses following a breach for more information on this topic.

Permanent work-from-home requires a shift in mindset

Permanent work-from-home arrangements and the increasingly sophisticated phishing cyber attacks mean that “simply protecting the perimeter is no longer an effective strategy”. Instead, a larger focus needs to be placed on employee training – particularly training to help your employees recognize phishing attacks. Your workforce already poses your biggest cybersecurity threat. Training in cybersecurity hygiene can help your workforce assess threats from their homes (or wherever they log in from) to keep your network secure. 

Outsourced IT security looks set to increase

Most companies which responded to Kaspersky’s survey believe that outsourcing IT security will reduce overall IT spend. It also increases the expertise available within your team, promises better and broader threat protection. It may reduce turnover for your in-house IT workers – if stress or workload are an issue for them. 

To read the full Kaspersky Report, click here. 

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