Avatier Warns Companies of Hidden Costs of Security Breaches

San Ramon, CA — February 10, 2015 — Loss of reputation, sales and executive jobs are not the only by product of security breaches according to Avatier, one of the world's leaders in risk-driven identity management software. In its latest blog "Cyber Liability Insurance Puts A Large Hole in the Corporate Wallet” the company points out that according to the fourth annual NetDiligence Cyber Claims Study, the additional costs for Crisis Services, Legal Damages, Regulatory Action and PCI Fines can be staggering.

Crisis Services, defined as forensics, notification, and legal counsel are elements that aren't discussed in the cost of organizational breaches. Likewise, Legal Damages (defense and settlement); Regulatory Action (defense and settlement); and Payment Card Industry (PCI) fines are never disclosed. For cybersecurity professionals inside organizations, the totals are something to be aware of—the corporate executives certainly will be.

The average claim payout for a large company was $2.9 million and non-zero claim payments have run as high as $6.5 million. The Crisis Services and Legal Defense costs alone ran an average of $1.1 million.

"While the headlines talk about the hit to reputation and short term sales losses,” commented Nelson Cicchitto, Chairman and CEO of Avatier, "the fact is, most brands can withstand and recover from these attacks. Despite the problems Target faced after their breach, their customers were already back and shopping. The recent Anthem breach, while horrifying, doesn't mean 80 million customers will change carriers."

"But these claim payouts are an indication of the real costs that go right to the bottom line for those companies that are uninsured,” he added. "Just think what the effect would be if they put that much money into better security defense.”

About Avatier

Avatier is the identity management company designed for business users. We automate and unify enterprise operations by standardizing business processes with an IT store. Our IT service catalog creates a single system of record for access requests and IT audit.

Our easily extensible identity management system lowers operational costs and provides corporate governance visibility. Avatier automates workflow and compliance reviews to reduce IT governance risks.

Founded in 1997, Avatier is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay area with offices in Chicago, Dallas, New York, Washington DC, London, Munich, Singapore, Dublin, and Sydney. Our products operate globally for customers like Marriott, DHL, Halliburton, Starbucks and hundreds more. For more information, please visit www.avatier.com and follow @Avatier on Twitter.

Contact:

Gary Thompson
Clarity Communications
Direct: 1-415-963-4082 x101