As Data breaches become more and more prevalent in today’s world it is worthwhile for Marketing and IT departments to band together to make a case for the implementation of full disk encryption in an effort to protect both privacy issues as well as brand equity. In my experience, most stakeholders understand data breaches can and should be avoided; but if they do occur, and and organization is viewed as having inadequate protection of customer and employee records, stakeholders and the public at large can be ruthlessly unforgiving. That’s where the rubber meets the road and companies can suffer a significant bottom-line impact of brand deterioration.
How much can PR services cost for recovery from a breach?
One way of estimating the cost of preparing for or responding to a data breach is to use the PR Cost Calculator that McEwen McMahon and NetDiligence developed for the eRisk Hub. But trust me, PR is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the true cost of a data breach to an organization’s reputation.
Generally speaking, the kind of variables that impact both tangible and intangible costs to your brand mostly have to do with: the size and scope of the breach, the degree of readiness to deal with it, the measures taken to prevent a breach, the sensitivity of the information compromised, and whether or not regulatory or compliance issues are involved.
Depending on these factors, costs can range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost sales as well as brand integrity. Millions of dollars in brand equity that has taken years to build can be wiped out instantaneously if a company faces a data breach. The public at large may be more forgiving of smaller firms but when large organizations such as Barnes & Noble and Sony are breached, brands can be irreparably damaged. Marketer’s everywhere would caution IT departments to take every precaution to protect the corporate brand. Food for thought when considering your current security solution!
To learn more on how you can protect your organization, click here for a revealing study on the Total Cost of Encryption by the Ponemon Institute.
