From loss of brand trust to the time a business is down, the cost of a data breach continues to rise on a global basis. In fact, according to new data out from Kaspersky Lab, on average, data breaches cost about $1.23 million per enterprise; that is an increase of 24% YoY. For small businesses, the cost averages about $120,000.  

Data breaches are costing businesses, whether the business is a large enterprise or a mom-and-pop shop. According to the latest Kaspersky report, On the Money: Growing IT Security Budgets to Protect Digital Transformation Initiatives, businesses around the globe are pushing more budget dollars into security and IT, hoping to protect against breaches.  

IT/security spending is up about 3% YoY, or 23% of the total IT budget for enterprises. Breaking the IT spend down from there, about one-third of IT budgets are going to infrastructure, improving the level of expertise, and improving IT defenses respectively.  

"To support dynamic business changes and increase efficiency, companies are embracing cloud and business mobility," said Maxim Frolov, vice president of global sales at Kaspersky Lab. "Cybersecurity has become not just a line item in IT bills, but a boardroom issue and a business priority for companies of all sizes, as evidenced by companies raising their IT security budgets. Businesses expect a strong payoff as the stakes continue to get higher: besides traditional cybersecurity risks, many companies now have to deal with growing regulatory pressures, for example."  

On average, enterprises are spending about $8.9 million on security/IT initiatives with small businesses pushing nearly $250,000 into security/IT concerns.