Data breaches cost companies 20% of their sales revenue forever

Secure payment solutions firm, PCI Pal PLC, surveyed 2,200 Canadian consumers and revealed that 78% of those surveyed said they would stop spending money with a company that mishandled their data, and 58% said they would stop spending for several months.

20% said they would never buy from a company once it had been hacked.

Darren Gill, chief revenue officer for PCI, said in a comment: “Whether or not those companies actually follow through with that course of action – lack of marketplace choices and brand loyalty are often factors – is not totally clear. But what is clear, he added, is that people are beginning to care about how their data is being managed.”

He cited the backlash against Facebook as an example.

“I think it’s easy for people to say that they’re going to do that,” said Gill in an interview with IT World Canada.

“The practical reality though is what are their options or choices? That may limit their ability to do that. But look at the Facebook breach, there were some percentage of people that actually canceled their Facebook accounts because they were frustrated and concerned about the risks. But I think from a consumer point of view, it all boils down to… access, choice, and brand loyalty.”

More than 60% of Canadians want companies to undergo regular security audits. Nearly 50% would want them to be federally mandated by stricter regulations that protect private data.