This 2008 Ponemon Institute benchmark study, sponsored by PGP Corporation, examines the costs incurred by 43 organizations after experiencing a data breach. Results were not hypothetical responses; they represent cost estimates for activities resulting from actual data loss incidents. This is the fourth annual survey of this issue.

Breaches included in the survey ranged from less than 4,200 records to more than 113,000 records from 17 different industry sectors.