Cisco has released the 10th of its annual cybersecurity reports, leading some publications to scream that security breaches can cost businesses 20% of their annual turnover.
If you burrow into the headlines, however, it becomes apparent that only a third of the companies questioned in the (admittedly substantial) survey claimed such a loss. Other reports place the value much, much lower – but nobody is denying it’s a problem or that it’s increasing.
The Cisco survey takes in 3,000 respondents at chief executive level. It found that 50% of companies face public scrutiny after a breach, leading to reputational risk, and 20% reported that they lost customers as a result. Additionally, 23% of them had identified lost business opportunities from prospects as a result.