New research has revealed that the average cost of incidents involving data loss has risen sharply in the last year.

The Ponemon Institute stated in its fourth annual US Cost of Data Breach Study that the average data leak was costing a company $202 (£141) per person affected by the breach, rising from the 2007 figure of $197.

President and chief executive officer of the PGP Corporation Phillip Dunkelberger, who sponsored the research from Ponemon, said it emphasised the need for security systems at a time when businesses must retain customers to survive.

"This study continues to show that the results of a data breach can seriously wound a company's bottom line and reputation. This begs the question, when are organisations going to get proactive about protecting their critical data?" Mr Dunkelberger continued.

Specialising in the furthering of responsible practice involving data privacy in business and government, the Ponemon Institute carries out a number of surveys each year to highlight the dangers and necessities associated with security.

More than half of small businesses (53 per cent) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support. London-based Connect conducted the research in 2007.
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