The report found that the cost of lost business continued to make up the biggest proportion of the cost of a data breach. It now accounts for 69% of the cost, up from 65% last year. Third party data breaches were also on the rise. 44% of data breaches in 2008 originated with third parties such as contractors and outsourcers, compared with 40% in 2007.
The per-victim cost of a data breach was $243, compared to $192 for those who had suffered breaches in the past.
"You not only have to deal with the systems and processes and people within your own four walls, but you must also get a third party whom you have no control over to change their systems, too," said John Dasher, product development manager at PGP, which sponsored the report. "As news of these breaches gets out, it will educate people that they need to ensure that the people with whom they're doing business have a security policy that's in line with their own."