Average data breach costs Canadian organizations a staggering $6.32 million: study

Canadian organizations embroiled in data breaches wind up paying an average $6.32 million to resolve the incidents, a new study from IBM says.

Canadian organizations embroiled in data breaches wind up paying an average $6.32 million to resolve the incidents, a new study from IBM says.

That total is down from 2023, when Canadian organizations were paying an average $6.94 million, and from 2022, when the average was $7.05 million, said the study, which was released Tuesday.

"There's 27,000 breaches (a year) in Canada alone, an all-time high ... That's almost 75 breaches a day," said Daina Proctor, IBM Canada's security services leader.

"When I start looking at 75 breaches a day at an average $6.3 million per breach, that's when I start saying this is staggering."

IBM's report comes as Canadians are routinely told of cyber attacks and other breaches that put their data at risk of falling into unauthorized hands. In the last year alone, Ticketmaster, AT&T, Giant Tiger, London Drugs and more have been victims of such attacks.

IBM sought to quantify not just the extent of attacks but also their cost — a figure that can include what organizations pay for detection and legal services, crisis management, regulatory fines, consumer reparations and lost business.

Its report was based on an analysis of data breaches experienced by 604 organizations globally between March 2023 and February 2024.