Data breaches are a significant business threat across every industry; no one is immune. The impact of a data breach on a financial institution, however, can be particularly grievous, and the threat is only likely to grow in 2016.

According to data from the Identity Theft Resource Center, there were 28% more data breaches in 2014 than the previous year. As of Dec. 8, 2015, the ITRC had recorded 732 breaches that exposed more than 176 million records; 66 of them were in the financial services/banking segment. Clearly, the rate of breaches is not flagging, and what’s more, their ability to damage a company’s bottom line seems to be escalating.

High-profile breaches like the Anthem breach in 2015 (80 million records) and the eBay breach in 2014 (145 million records) have captured the public’s attention; your customers are likely heading into 2016 far more aware of data breaches and their link to elevated identity theft risks than they were a few years ago.

This greater consumer awareness accounts for at least part of the cost of post-breach recovery for companies. The average data breach costs companies $6.5 million, according to the Ponemon Institute. In fact, the financial industry has one of the highest breach costs — $259 per record, making it third behind healthcare and pharma concerns, Ponemon reports. What’s more, financial institutions experience the highest level of post-data breach churn of any industry, coming in at 7.1%.

To help financial institutions better understand data breach realities, risks and preventive measures, we’ve put together an infographic. You can download it here, learn more about how a data breach might affect your financial institution and what you can do to mitigate potential damages — including abnormal churn.

Paul Bjerk is a Fraud and Risk Products Leader with Shared Assessments Program member, Deluxe Corporation. Connect with Paul on LinkedIn.

Reposted with permission from Deluxe Blogs