Infosys, a home grown global leader in next generation digital services and consulting and Interbrand, warns about the potential risk of a data breach in the world’s 100 most valuable brands. The losses could be accountable to over $ 223 billion in brand value, according to ‘Invisible Tech’, a joint cybersecurity and brand value impact report published by Infosys.

The study reveals that industries like Technology, Financial services and Automotive are more prone to experience a higher risk in losing brand value while Luxury brands and Consumer goods face greater value at risk as a percentage of their net income. The report has calculated the brand value risk of various companies during a data breach and is as follows:

Technology- Upto $29 billion brand value risk (up to 53 percent of 2020 net income)
Financial Services- Upto $2.6 billion brand value risk (upto 52 percent of 2020 net income)
Automotive- Upto $4.2 billion brand value risk (upto 77 percent of 2020 net income)
Consumer Goods- Upto $5 billion brand value risk ( upto 114 percent of 2020 net income)
Luxury- Up to $2.4 billion brand value risk ( upto 115 percent of 2020 net income)

“Cyber security for long was seen as cost of doing business. However, in this digital age, where a company’s reputation is based on its ability to protect customer data and establish digital trust, cybersecurity is becoming a business differentiator, through this report, we bring a novel approach to quantifying the impact of a data breach to the brand value to help business understand and evaluate if the cybersecurity investments they are making are proportionate to the risk they face. It also reinforces the need for CISOs to engage with the board and build a robust governance ecosystem while employing a ‘secure by design’ approach to safeguard their brand value and reputation,” reported Vishal Salvi, Chief Information Security Officer and Head Cyber Security Practice, Infosys.

Ameya Kapnadak, Chief Growth Officer (India), Interbrand, said, “there’s a fundamental shift in how brands engage with their customers. As the lines between the physical and virtual worlds increasingly blur and brands rely more and more on the digital world to create unique experuiences for their customers, databreaches have the potential to dent the very core of the brand’s relationship with the customers. These shifts underscore the need to re-evaluate ‘hygiene’ aspects of customer experience like, cybersecurity”.

For this study, both Infosys and Interbrand worked in tandem to evaluate the potential risk for a brand during a data breach. Interbrand’s global team of valuation experts calculated a breach’s impact on a brand strength with scores from the Best Global Brand (BGB) 2020 as a benchmark.