In 2020, the average data breach cost was $8.64 million in the United States. These expenses include the cost of uncovering and reacting to the breach, the cost of downtime and missed revenue, and the long-term damage to a business’s reputation.
The fastest-growing threat to organizations today comes not from outside the company but from within. Nearly half of all data breaches are caused by human error, rather than by a hacker breaking through the technology layers. Firewalls and spam filters alone will not provide the comprehensive barrier that most organizations need to secure their networks tightly. Cultivating a cyber-smart work environment is the most effective way to create a human barrier against breaches and incidents.