According to a recent survey for The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company (HSB), a division of global reinsurer Munich Re, 29% of U.S. businesses experienced a data breach in the previous year.
The survey was conducted by Zogby Analytics for HSB, as part of a continuing effort by HSB and Munich Re to anticipate trends and help clients better respond to the evolving cyber risk world.
According to the survey, which targeted U.S. business executives, almost half of all breaches (47%) were caused by a vendor or contractor working for a business, while employee negligence was responsible for 21% of breaches, and lost or stolen mobile devices or storage media accounted for 20% of the breaches.
Overall, two-thirds of the data breaches led to reputational damage for the business.
51% of respondents said a lack of knowledge was the biggest hurdle when responding to a breach, while 41% of respondents said a lack of resources was the biggest hurdle when responding to a breach.
27% of businesses spent between $5,000 and $50,000 to respond, while 30% spent between $50,000 and $100,000 to respond.
Timothy Zeilman, Vice President for HSB, commented; “The results highlight how closely our economy and society are interconnected digitally. Almost all of our personal and business data can be accessible on the Internet through online business connections, websites and social media. And that exposes our private information to attacks from hackers and cyber thieves.”
