The average cost of a data breach for businesses in the Middle East reached SAR32.80 million ($8.74 million) in 2024, up nearly 10 percent from SAR29.90 million ($7.97 million) in 2023. In its latest annual Cost of a Data Breach Report, IBM revealed that the top three factors contributing to the rise in data breach costs for local businesses in the region were security skills shortages, non-compliance with regulations, and security system complexity.
In the Middle East, lost business, detection and escalation, post-breach customer response, and notification costs also drove the year-over-year cost spike in the region. Similar to the 2023 trends, lost business costs (operational downtime, lost customers, and reputation damage, among others) continued to top the list, reaching an average of SAR12.84 million per breach in 2024, up from SAR10.02 million last year.
Following closely came:
- Post-breach customer response costs at SAR9.01 million in 2024, compared to SAR8.86 million in 2023.
- Detection and escalation costs at SAR8.42 million, up from SAR 8.36 million.
- Notification costs at SAR2.53 million, rising from SAR 2.36 million last year.
Energy sector sees costliest breaches
IBM’s 2024 report also revealed that the energy sector participants experienced the most expensive data breaches across industries, reaching SAR36.90 million on average per breach. The region’s financial industry ranked second, with an average cost of SAR35.81 million per breach, while the industrial sector came in third place with an average cost of SAR34.52 million.
“The alarming and continued escalation of data breach costs in the Middle East highlights the urgent need for advanced cybersecurity measures,” stated Santhosh Koratt, MEA Cybersecurity Services Leader at IBM.
As technology evolves and becomes more complex, cyber threats and data breaches are becoming more elaborate. Koratt says that it is crucial for businesses to adopt artificial intelligence, address security staff shortage concerns, and reinforce regulatory compliance.
“These actions are essential for businesses to mitigate risks and the rising costs of data breaches, thereby protecting organizations and customers,” Koratt added.
Security staff shortage raises breach cost
IBM’s 2024 report finds that the shortage of security skills contributes to the average increase in data breach costs by SAR1.62 million. This highlights the pressing need for businesses to bridge the gap. Another factor for the rise in cost was non-compliance with regulations, which contributed to data breaches costing businesses an average of SAR1.25 million more. The third factor was the complexity of security systems, which cost an average of SAR975,000.
Read: Over 2,000 startups set to gather at latest Expand North Star edition in Dubai
Leveraging security through AI and automation
Organizations in the Middle East that extensively deployed security AI and automation experienced lower data breach costs, with an average cost of SAR26.54 million. Organizations that did not deploy the technologies incurred a much greater cost of SAR38.85 million.
In addition, these technologies also benefit the data breach lifecycle. Organizations that extensively used security AI and automation had an average time of 198 days to identify a breach and 57 days to contain it. In contrast, organizations that did not deploy these technologies had an average time of 294 days to identify a breach and 78 days to contain it.
For more news on technology, click here.
