Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Management & Strategy

Data Privacy Concerns Cause Sales Delays: Cisco

Nearly two-thirds of businesses worldwide have experienced significant delays in sales due to customer data privacy concerns, according to Cisco’s 2018 Privacy Maturity Benchmark Study.

Nearly two-thirds of businesses worldwide have experienced significant delays in sales due to customer data privacy concerns, according to Cisco’s 2018 Privacy Maturity Benchmark Study.

The study, based on the responses of roughly 3,000 cybersecurity professionals from 25 countries, shows that 65% of businesses reported sales cycle delays due to concerns over data privacy, with an average delay of nearly 8 weeks.

However, organizations with a mature privacy process are less affected compared to privacy-immature companies. Privacy-mature firms experienced delays of only 3.4 weeks, while immature businesses reported delays averaging nearly 17 weeks.

Sales delays have also varied depending on several other factors, including country, with the longest delays reported in Mexico and Latin America, and industry, with the longest delays in the government and healthcare sectors.

The number of weeks sales have been delayed

The report also shows that privacy-mature organizations suffer lower losses as a result of data breaches. According to Cisco, only 39% of privacy-mature organizations experienced losses exceeding $500,000, compared to 74% of companies that have an immature privacy process.

The type of model adopted by organizations for privacy resources also appears to be an important factor. According to the study, businesses with fully centralized and decentralized resources had sales delays of 10 and 7 weeks, respectively. On the other hand, organizations with a hybrid model, which represents a mix between centralized and decentralized, reported delays of less than 5 weeks.

“This study provides valuable empirical evidence of the linkage between firm privacy policies and performance-relevant impacts. These results are indicative of the direction that future empirical research on privacy, and cybersecurity more generally, should take to better validate and focus our understanding of best practices in these important areas,” said Dr. William Lehr, economist at MIT.

The complete 2018 Privacy Maturity Benchmark Study is available for download in PDF format.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Related: EFF Reviews Privacy Practices of Online Service Providers

Related: Governments Show Contradictory Attitude Towards Privacy and Data Protection

Related: Privacy Fears Over Artificial Intelligence as Crimestopper

Written By

Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is a managing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher for two years before starting a career in journalism as Softpedia’s security news reporter. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering.

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Learn how the LOtL threat landscape has evolved, why traditional endpoint hardening methods fall short, and how adaptive, user-aware approaches can reduce risk.

Watch Now

Join the summit to explore critical threats to public cloud infrastructure, APIs, and identity systems through discussions, case studies, and insights into emerging technologies like AI and LLMs.

Register

People on the Move

Jessica Newman has joined Sophos as General Manager of Global Cyber Insurance.

Breach and attack simulation solutions provider AttackIQ has appointed Pete Luban as Field Chief Information Security Officer.

Matthew Cowell has assumed the role of VP of Strategic Alliances at Nozomi Networks. He previously served in the same role at Dragos.

More People On The Move

Expert Insights

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest cybersecurity news, threats, and expert insights. Unsubscribe at any time.