Cost of risk in your unstructured data calculator: Methodology & references

Numbers are based on publicly available information in May 2021, gathered through industry bodies, websites and materials and based on insights from the experiences of our customers and partners. Data statistics change regularly, so please refer to the latest publicly available information.

Methodology & references

1. Amount of unstructured data:Exonar research with customers reveals approximately 80% of any data estate is unstructured. Forbes estimates 90% of a data estate is unstructured. Source

2. Estimated volume of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in unstructured data: Exonar insight into customer data estates reveals that 9% of unstructured data contains PII. Source

3. Average number of PII records stolen in a breach: This is set at 1% of PII in unstructured data and is consistent with the average volumes of records breached according to the Ponemon Institute and IBM 'Cost of a Data Breach' study. Data breaches examined in the 2020 study ranged in size between 3,400 and 99,730 compromised records. Eighty percent of breached organisations stated that customer PII was compromised during the breach, far more than any other type of record. Source

4. Cost of risk held in your unstructured data: This calculation is the 1% PII x $150 for each record stolen in a breach. The Ponemon Institute and IBM's 'Cost of a Data Breach' study reveals that every record stolen costs an organisation $146 but that raises to $150 for those containing PII. This is based on four measures: detection & escalation, lost business, notification and ex-post response (which includes regulatory fines). Source