In light of the latest research from Comparitech.com, a leading security and privacy advice and comparison website, which looked at how data breaches affect stock market share prices, found that stocks on average suffer an immediate decrease in share price following a breach of 0.43%, about equal to their average daily volatility. Security experts from AlienVault and One Identity commented on the research.
Javvad Malik, Security Advocate at AlienVault:
“The research by Comparitech.com shows that it is difficult to determine the full impact of a data breach upon companies immediately, rather the impact can compound over a longer period of time. While data breach fatigue may be settling in, companies cannot underestimate the full impact a breach will have on its bottom line. In particular, small, mid-sized, or businesses with only a few revenue streams should particularly be vigilant and invest in security controls that can help detect and respond to attempted breaches rapidly, as they would be less able to absorb the financial hit.”
Bill Evans, Senior Director at One Identity:
Directionally, Comparitech.com’s results are in line with expectations; namely, that breaches have a material impact on an organization both immediately and longer term. The two surprising facts for me are first, the substantive nature of the impact where Comparitech’s data shows a hacked companies underperforming by an astonishing 42% after three years. Secondly, I was intrigued by the alleged “breach fatigue” that may be occurring as customers, partners and now even investors have experienced so many breaches that their impact may be lessening. I hope Comparitech continues to conduct this survey annually to reveal more about “breach fatigue.”
The opinions expressed in this post belong to the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Information Security Buzz.