Directory

Cost of a Data Breach Report

IBM Security (recherche Ponemon Institute)

Cyber and cyber lossesSinistres et coûtsAnnualWorld

Annual study estimating the average total cost of a data breach. Breaks the cost down by phase (detection, notification, response, lost business), by sector, by geography and by aggravating or mitigating factor, including the use of defensive artificial intelligence. The most cited reference on the unit cost of an incident.

Methodology

Interviews conducted by the Ponemon Institute with organisations that suffered a breach over the period. The cost is a sample mean, not a full distribution; it excludes very large atypical breaches, which limits its use for tail estimation.

Recommended use

Use for an average cost-per-record or per-incident assumption in a mainstream pricing note. Do not use alone to model extreme severity, where actual claims databases are preferable.

Official source ↗Latest edition: 2025
Keywords
Related glossary terms
Similar sources