The average cost of a data breach rose 6.4% year-over-year to about $3.9 million in 2018, according to research sponsored by IBM Security and conducted by the Ponemon Institute. The average cost for each lost record rose to $148 from $141, an increase of 4.8% from 2017, while the average size of data breaches increased 2.2%. It takes an average of 221 days to identify malicious and criminal attacks, and 81 days to contain them. Once a data breach takes more than 100 days to identify, the estimated cost rises by $1.1 million to a total of $4.2 million. Tools that heighten detective or forensic capabilities can significantly reduce data breach cost, researchers noted.