More companies admit to being victim of a data breach

The frequency of data breaches is up 10 percent from a year ago and more companies have had more than one breach over the last two years.

According to a report by Ponemon sponsored by Experian Data Breach Resolution, 43 percent of surveyed US executives admitted their company had a data breach involving loss or theft of 1,000 or more records in 2014. Last year, 33 percent said they had this type of breach.

Additionally, 60 percent of these executives said their company experienced more than one data breach during the last two years. This result is up 8 percent from a year ago.

In what is sure to be good news to the insurance industry as it continues to push cyber insurance coverage, the survey indicates more companies are buying. Ponemon said 26 percent of companies bought a cyber insurance policies this year, compared to just 10 percent in 2013.

The insurance industry would also welcome the survey’s findings regarding response plan and teams. Nearly three quarters of the surveyed executives said their companies had a data breach response plan in place. Past studies by Ponemon have concluded a plan can significantly reduce costs on an incident and the institute encourages appointing a chief information security officer to lead the team.

Nevertheless, companies could still stand to increase internal awareness considering Ponemon has revealed mistakes by employees cause many data breaches. Fifty-four percent of companies have an awareness program in place, which is up from 44 percent in 2013.

READ THE FULL REPORT: Is Your Company Ready for a Big Data Breach?