Recent data from Ponenom Institute’s sixth annual study, 2010 U.S. Cost of a Data Breach (the study was sponsored by Symantec) indicates the costs continue to grow with the 2010 cost per lost record totaling $214.

Some interesting points from the study:
- Spending on detection and notification efforts by U.S. companies is on the rise.
- Companies who respond quickly to notify customers of a breach spend more than those who take their time to notify.
- Malicious attacks are the most expensive and are rising in frequency but negligence continues to be the most common cause of a breach.
-The study suggests data breaches are so commonplace that customers are now less likely to leave a company because of a breach.

Symantec is offering an online data breach calculator for companies to use in evaluating their level of exposure. To look back at previous years’ data breach costs, review previous security breach cost entries on our blog.