UK data breaches cost £64 for every record lost

The average cost per record lost is £64 in the UK

UK organisations experience some of the lowest data breach costs in the world, but this could change as the regulatory regime gets tighter, according to a global study from encryption firm PGP.

The vendor's first Global Cost of a Data Breach study puts the average cost per record lost at just £64 in the UK, far behind the global average of £93 and the US figure of £134.

However, PGP's European marketing director, Jamie Cowper, warned that the UK could soon see this figure rise, at least initially.

"What we're seeing is that when countries have a more mature regulatory framework, like the US and Germany, there are more costs associated with breach notifications," he said.

However, the report also suggested that, while costs may rise initially, they will fall over time as organisations develop more efficient ways of complying with notification laws.

For example, the cost of detecting and escalating a breach in Germany is £34 per lost record, a reflection of the necessary investment in new technologies and processes in order to comply with the country's recent notification legislation.

In the US, however, where laws were first enforced around five years ago, these costs are just £5.25 and have decreased over recent years.

The report also found that organisations with a chief information security officer responsible for breaches are more likely to experience lower costs per breach.

"It's better to empower a security professional, giving them more authority to make these things work," said Cowper. "It means you'll have better control over managing the data breach, and the cost of any breach will be lower too."