MegaPath, which provides managed data, voice, security and hosted IT services in North America via channel partners, today announced the launch of its Data Breach Risk Calculator to help organizations better understand the probability of a data breach and the associated costs.
Based on responses to a 10-question survey, the calculator provides participants with benchmark information that can be used to assess potential data breach exposure for their companies. It then generates three analyses based on users’ responses to the questionnaire:
- Overall data breach cost as a range variable,
- The probability of a data breach within the next 12 months, and
- Five subcomponents of data breach – detection and escalation, containment and remediation, information loss, business interruption, and reputation impact.
In addition to providing a snapshot of the estimated cost of a data breach, MegaPath’s Data Breach Risk Calculator also provides a detailed report that explains the methodology, directions for interpreting the results and tips for reducing the risk of a data breach.
“Many businesses today, particularly SMBs, struggle to understand their risk of exposure to a potential breach,” said Dan Foster, president of business markets at MegaPath. “Now, with the Data Breach Risk Calculator, customers can gain insight into the estimated cost of a data breach within their organization and work with MegaPath’s teams to identify the security tools necessary to help protect their sensitive corporate data from unauthorized access.”
The Data Breach Risk Calculator is powered by The Ponemon Institute and based on data from a Ponemon Institute study commissioned by MegaPath that interviewed more than 700 IT and administrative practitioners working in healthcare organizations with 250 or fewer employees. The 2012 study, “Data Security in Small Healthcare Organizations,” found that almost all of the small healthcare organizations surveyed had a data breach within the 12 months leading up to the survey. Additionally, the study concluded that businesses often underestimate the financial and reputational consequences of a data breach.
