According to a study conducted by Infosys and global brand consultant Interbrand, a data breach could result in a $223 billion loss in brand value for the world’s 100 most valuable brands.
The study emphasized that security should become a boardroom agenda rather than just a hygiene element.
The impact of a data breach was assessed using scores from Interbrand’s flagship property Best Global Brand (BGB) 2020 as a benchmark to estimate and simulate the value at stake for a brand in the case of a data breach. To measure the risk, Interbrand looked at three factors: a financial forecast that captures consensus projections of future revenues and profits, on which valuation is built, the role of brand in the purchase decision, and brand strength.
According to the study, data breaches may put a higher brand value on technology, financial services, and automobile companies at risk, whereas luxury brands and consumer products have a higher value at risk as a percentage of their net revenue.
Because of the pervasiveness of technology in our daily lives, tech brands top the chart with a potential brand value risk of $29 billion. Consumer goods and automobile industries face brand value risks of up to $5 billion and $4.2 billion, respectively. And the financial services Industry might face a $2.6 billion brand value risk.