Industry Statistics

Identity theft affects both the consumer and the business community in a multitude of ways. The impact of this crime clearly touches businesses at all levels and from many directions. Included below are some of the statistics that demonstrate areas of concern for members of the business community.

General Statistics

• According to the Javelin Strategy & Research 2012 Identity Theft Fraud Report, the total dollar fraud amount in 2011 equaled $18 billion.
  
  
• Key findings of the 2012 Association for Financial Professionals Payments Fraud and Control Survey include:
  
  
• Two-thirds of organizations experienced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2011.
  
• Large organizations were significantly more likely to have experienced payments fraud than were smaller ones. Eighty-one percent of organizations with annual revenues over $1 billion were victims of payments fraud in 2011 compared with 55 percent of organizations with annual revenues under $1 billion.

Breach Statistics

The 2012 Ponemon Institute’s U.S. Cost of a Data Breach report shows that the cost per record is$194. The organizational cost averaged $5.5 million.

Studies have shown that the negative effects of identity theft or a breach of information can have long term and far reaching ramifications for businesses. It should be a priority for business owners and executives to heighten their awareness of identity theft, and the financial and image costs of a data loss. The focus of the consumer is both on their own security as well as the actions and activities of the businesses that they use.

Small Business Identity Theft Assistance
How does your business measure up? The Identity Theft Resource Center provides consulting services to businesses on minimizing identity theft and data loss. In addition, should your small business account be stolen or hacked and used by an identity thief, the ITRC toll-free Hotline has trained counselors ready to help through the recovery process.