According to the CISCO 2017 Annual Cybersecurity Report, over 20% of organizations hit by data breaches last year experienced lost revenue, customers, missed or lost business opportunities.

The report revealed the potential financial impact of attacks on businesses, from enterprises to SMBs. More than 50 percent of organizations faced public scrutiny after a security breach. Operations and finance systems were the most affected, followed by brand reputation and customer retention. For organizations that experienced an attack, the effect was substantial:

• Twenty-two percent of breached organizations lost customers — 40 percent of them lost more than 20 percent of their customer base.
• Twenty-nine percent lost revenue, with 38 percent of that group losing more than 20 percent of revenue.
• Twenty-three percent of breached organizations lost business opportunities, with 42 percent of them losing more than 20 percent.

Another key finding is that hacking has become more “corporate", as cyber criminals are using new approaches that mirror the middle management structure of their corporate targets. 
One of the surprising findings in the report is that organizations have resources to investigate only 56% of security alerts they receive per day, and less than half are solved. An automated security architecture seems to be the only solution that can cut through the noise, as defenders are struggling with complexity and manpower challenges, leaving gaps of time and space for attackers to utilise to their advantage.

Read the full report