Average Data Breach Cost In India Hits Record High Of Rs 19.5 Crore In 2024: IBM

The average cost of a data breach in India reached a record high of Rs 19.5 crore in 2024, according to a report by the U.S.-based technology firm IBM.

A data breach occurs when unauthorised individuals access sensitive or confidential information, including personal and corporate data.

These findings are based on an analysis of data breaches experienced by 604 organisations worldwide between March 2023 and February 2024.

The report attributed the spike in data breach costs in India to lost business and notification expenses, with lost business costs increasing by nearly 45% and notification costs rising by 19% from the previous year.

Notification costs refer to the expenses associated with using an external party to inform individuals or organizations about a data breach or security incident involving compromised personal information.

The report noted that phishing and stolen or compromised credentials represented 18% of the most common cyberattacks in India, followed by cloud misconfiguration at 12%.

The report highlighted that, at an average cost of Rs 21.5 crore per breach, compromised business emails were the most expensive. This was followed by social engineering attacks at Rs 21.3 crore and phishing at Rs 20.9 crore.