Solving the Puzzle of Vulnerability Management

Malicious entities — hackers, worms, viruses and, sometimes, your own employees — exploit on a daily basis vulnerabilities in your corporate processes, administration and technologies. Seizing the opportunity presented by any weakness, these entities can steal, alter or destroy vital financial, medical and competitive data. Through denials of service, they can shut down your website and disrupt your business.

The results, particularly for publicly held companies, are devastating. Ernst & Young analysts estimate that malicious attacks cost between $17 and $28 million per incident in lost revenue and clean-up costs, resulting in corporate revenue losses of 0.5 to 1.0%. Adding insult to injury, companies with publicly disclosed security breaches witnessed a 2.7% to 4.5% decrease in share price, with an average loss of $918 million in market capitalization per incident.