"Data Breach Costs Hit Record High During COVID Period... Average Damage in Han 4.1 Billion Won"

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the financial damage caused by data breaches in companies worldwide has reached an all-time high.

According to a survey conducted by IBM from May last year to March this year targeting over 500 companies and organizations globally, the average cost of data breach incidents for these companies was $4.24 million (approximately 4.88 billion KRW). IBM stated this is the highest amount in 17 years, representing a 10% increase compared to the previous year.

Among the surveyed companies, the average damage amount for 28 Korean companies was calculated at approximately 4.11 billion KRW.

According to IBM, the industries with the highest average damage per data breach incident among participating Korean companies were finance, services, and IT, in that order.

The most common attack method was the theft of user authentication information, followed by cloud configuration errors and phishing.

The attack method causing the greatest damage was business email compromise, with an average loss of 6.76 billion KRW.

IBM pointed out that during the COVID-19 pandemic, as companies shifted to remote work, the financial damage related to data breaches increased.

Among companies worldwide, about 20% responded that remote work was one of the factors contributing to data breach incidents. Companies that included remote work as a cause of incidents experienced an average of $1 million more in damages than those that did not.

However, companies that adopted artificial intelligence (AI), security analytics, and encryption tools reduced their damage costs by approximately $1.25 million to $1.49 million compared to those that did not.

Chris McCurdy, IBM Security Vice President, said, "The increased cost of data breach incidents is an additional expense for companies undergoing rapid technological changes during the COVID-19 period. However, we believe that by adopting technologies such as AI and automation, the damage from incidents can be further reduced."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.