28 Jan 2010

Data loss costing US firms more

Companies in the US have seen the cost of data loss increase over the last 12 months, a new study has shown.

Research carried out by the Ponemon Institute has revealed firms now spend $204 (£125.66) per lost item, compared to last year's average of $202.

Furthermore, the overall cost of lost data per incident has risen from $6.65 million in 2008 to $6.75 million in 2009.

Dr Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute, commented: "With a variety of threat vectors to contend with, companies must proactively implement policies and technologies that mitigate the risk of facing a costly breach."

Elsewhere, the New Statesman recently reported research carried out by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Hudson & Yorke revealed businesses are losing £12 billion a year due to poor data management and data recovery.

Furthermore, the report noted 80 per cent of IT projects taken on by firms are not as efficient as they could be.