Breaches Can Crater Companies' Stock by 5%

Public companies that suffer a breach get hit with a double whammy of not only dealing with the attack but also face the prospect of their stock price falling an average of 5% on the day of the breach, according to a survey by the Ponemon Institute and commissioned by Centrify.

The study looked at a survey of 1,331 security and IT employees, senior level marketers and corporate communications professionals and consumers. Some 31% of customers affected by a publlic firm's breach dropped their relationship with the company post-breach, resulting in a 7% customer churn rate.

Meanwhile, companies with an inadequate security posture encountered as much as a 7% stock drop on the day of the breach, and 120 days after the attack the stock did not regain its previous level before the breach.

Companies with a high security posture only encountered up to a 3% stock drop and were able to regain and move to higher levels 120 days after the attack.

Only 20% of CMOs and 5% of IT professionals indicate they would be concerned about the impact of a breach on the company's stock price.

Read more about the survey here.