The average global cost to companies of a data breach is $3.92 million, with costs reaching $8.19 million per breach in the US, according to the Ponemon Institute's 2019 Cost of a Data Breach Report. 'I'm a good guy I try to help organisations.'Ĭompanies need all the help they can get. 'Everyone understands what the bad version of a hacker is,' Chapman said. Instead, he's a member of a cadre of 'white-hat' hackers, computer systems analysts and programmers paid by corporations and cybersecurity companies to locate and shut down technology system vulnerabilities before their more nefarious counterparts on the black or grey markets can find them. He spends his workdays combing the networks of global corporations in hopeof finding security flaws that, if exposed, could bring a corporation to its knees.īut Chapman isn't out to get you or the organisation you work for. Most companies aren't fully aware of how vulnerable to cybersecurity breaches they are. 'Ultimately, it's going to be a cat-and-mouse game.'īut it's not a fair contest. 'Cybersecurity is a hard trend, and it is going to continue to evolve,' said Steven Ursillo Jr., CPA/CITP, CGMA, partner and national leader of Information Assurance and Cybersecurity at Cherry Bekaert, a US-based accounting and advisory firm. It's not just financial: Data breaches can cause significant reputational damage that imperils relationships with customers, partners, and vendors, and are a reality that no finance department can ignore. Cybercriminals are using stolen data to perpetrate business email compromise, invoice, payroll, phishing, and ransomware scams that cost companies billions of dollars annually.ĭata breaches have cost the global economy trillions of dollars, according to the WEF. Hackers are exploiting digital security flaws to commit a dizzying array of crimes. Three out of four businesses can expect to get hacked within the next year, according to the World Economic Forum's (WEF's) Centre on Cybersecurity. The global news cycle is a daily reminder of the pervasive and potentially devastating cyber risk facing businesses.

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