While there are many claims that cyber security is an indispensable necessary cost, there is also a body of opinion that cyber security does not always justify its costs and the financial impacts of a breach are frequently either exaggerated or unclear.
As a response to these concerns, this whitepaper examines the costs of cyber defence in comparison to the costs and likelihood of a data breach, along with arguments in favour of, or against, an increased security spend to defend critical assets. Varying breach costs and attack probabilities for different industry sectors are used throughout the paper to help determine the cost or cost benefits of effective cyber defence for different organisations.