AI, Automation Help Businesses Save Millions in Data Breach Costs—IBM Study

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Technology company, IBM, has released its “Cost of a Data Breach Report” for 2022. The annual report revealed that data breaches have become costlier and more damaging to companies. The global average cost of a data breach reached $4.35 million for the companies studied in the report.

Moreover, a company suffers the impact of a breach long after it has taken place. The report found that companies incurred nearly 50% of breach costs one year after the breach. Also, more than 80% of respondents said they have experienced a data breach in their lifetime.

Another important finding is that businesses pass on the cost of these breaches to consumers. Sixty-percent of companies raised the prices of their products or services due to losses incurred from a breach. With the prevalence of data breaches and the cost of one rising 13% over the past two years, the report suggests that breach incidents also contribute to the rising costs of goods worldwide.

Findings on Security Protocols

The report revealed that almost 80% of organizations’ critical infrastructure didn’t adopt zero trust strategies. Not doing so raised the average breach cost to $5.4 million—a $1.17 million increase compared to organizations that implement the strategy.

When it comes to paying ransom demands, the report showed that companies don’t end up winning. Those who paid ransom demands only saw $610,000 less in average breach costs compared to companies that didn’t pay.

Of companies shifting to the cloud, 43% have not started or are in the early stages of applying security protocols across their cloud environments. The consequences of this delay saw over $660,000 on average in higher breach costs for these companies than those with mature security across their cloud environments.

AI and Automation for SaaS Security

The IBM report found that organizations leveraging AI and automation can lower the financial impact of breaches. They were able to save $3.05 million on average in breach costs compared to organizations that haven’t implemented the technologies. AI and automation were the two biggest cost savers identified in the report.  

These findings align with another security report from the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA). The CSA’s report was on SaaS misconfigurations. Misconfigurations happen when there is a lack of visibility in SaaS security settings. Shadow IT and misappropriated user permissions increase the risk of misconfigurations and breaches.

The CSA report also cited automation and AI as tools that can effectively address SaaS misconfigurations. With numerous endpoints, apps, and networks to oversee, manual remediation could easily exhaust a company’s security and IT teams. Security teams might not be able to strictly adhere to schedules for manual checks; thus increasing the exposure of the company to security threats.

Technologies and Strategies Go Hand in Hand

Organizations have a problem with staff shortages. In fact, 62% are not sufficiently staffed based on the findings of the IBM report. Organizations that didn’t have enough people incurred on average $550,000 more in breach costs. Leveraging AI and automation could help companies fight breaches and lessen their financial costs.

According to IBM’s Global Head of Security, Charles Henderson, businesses need to take on the offensive if they want to beat attackers. Companies can’t allow attackers to achieve their objectives and should start minimizing the impact of breaches. “The more businesses try to perfect their perimeter instead of investing in detection and response, the more breaches can fuel cost of living increases,” said Henderson. “This report shows that the right strategies coupled with the right technologies can help make all the difference when businesses are attacked.”