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Media Release: Lost Customer Information Surveys Results LOST CUSTOMER INFORMATION: SURVEYS REVEAL CONSUMER REVOLT AND $14 MILLION AVERAGE CORPORATE COSTS TO CONTAIN BRAND DAMAGE Results Distributed by PGP Corporation Show Substantial Impact from Consumer Data Breaches Involving 1.4 Million Compromised Records and $200 Million in Costs Palo Alto, CA/14 November, 2005 - Two new surveys find customers are actively punishing companies that lose their confidential and private information. Conducted by The Ponemon Institute© and distributed by PGP Corporation, the surveys find that almost 20 percent of customers immediately terminated their accounts with vendors that lost their information, and an additional 40 percent considered termination. Companies participating in a parallel study estimated incurring an average cost of $14 million per breach incident, with costs ranging as high as $50 million. Reports are available from PGP Corporation at www.pgp.com/ponemon. The survey - “Lost Customer Information: What Does a Data Breach Cost Companies?” - is the first of its kind to report data from actual cases of lost customer information and the associated costs incurred to recover. Covering 14 separate incidents, it represents 1.4 million compromised data records and almost $200 million in total costs. Total cost estimates include the actual cost of internal investigations, outside legal defense fees, notification and call center costs, PR and investor relations efforts, discounted services offered, lost employee productivity, and the effect of lost customers. The related survey - “National Survey on Data Security Breach Notification” - reports results from 9,000 consumers, 12 percent of whom had received notifications of information mishandling. When extrapolated to the U.S. population, an estimated 23 million consumers have received such notices. Results showed 60 percent had terminated or were considering terminating their accounts. “The increasing incidence of reporting of lost private personal records poses a serious threat to consumer confidence - and to vendor profits,” said Esther Dyson, editor of Release 1.0 for CNET Networks and a member of the PGP Business Advisory Board. “Yet it is the right thing to do because it is forcing companies to clean up their acts. Companies are beginning to understand the effect carelessness with data can have on their reputations and their bottom line.”
Report Findings
Top-level consumer survey findings:
“Great companies know that customer acquisition and retention are the life-blood of long-term corporate success,” said Andrew Krcik, vice president of marketing for PGP Corporation. “A brand reputation built with hundreds of millions of dollars over decades can be destroyed by careless handling of private customer information. When the lifetime value of customers is so high and new customer acquisition so difficult, why destroy customer confidence when practical safeguards are available to prevent such an event?”
Regulatory Requirements
“In my interviews with Chief Security Officers, encryption is by far the most commonly cited mitigation strategy for breach notification legislation,” said Jim Reavis, president of Reavis Consulting Group and editor of the CSOinformer newsletter. “The idea is simple: If you have a mobile device, database, or desktop computer protected with encryption from a proven vendor like PGP Corporation, companies and law enforcement have confidence that personal data on those systems is not subject to compromise.”
PGP Solutions
Once deployed, the PGP Universal platform is capable of provisioning 10 encryption applications in a combination of gateway and end-point locations. This “deploy-once, enable over time” approach allows organizations to address their greatest risks today and grow into a comprehensive security solution over time. Current PGP encryption suite applications include disk encryption, email encryption, digital signatures, secure data deletion, instant messaging encryption, Self-Decrypting Archives (SDAs), batch process/FTP encryption, secure tape/archive encryption, encrypted email delivery to all recipients, and an encryption Software Development Kit (SDK) for customized, internal applications .
About PGP Corporation
Media & analyst contact for PGP Corporation:
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Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
PGP and the PGP logo are registered trademarks of PGP Corporation. Product and brand names used in the document may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Any such trademarks or registered trademarks are the sole property of their respective owners. |
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