Bad Tweets Can Cost an Enterprise $4 Million

Symantec's 2011 Social Media Protection Flash Poll shows how expensive leaked information on social media really can be and a bad Tweet can cost a company as much as $4 million.

The typical enterprise experienced nine social media incidents, such as employees posting confidential information publicly over the past year, with 94 percent suffering negative consequences including damage to their reputations, loss of customer trust, data loss and lost revenue. http://www.symantec.com/about/news/release/article.jsp?prid=20110721_01

Social media incidents cost a typical company $4 million over the past 12 months, Symantec estimates. More than 90 percent of respondents who experienced a social media incident also suffered negative consequences as a result, including:
reduced stock price (average cost: $1,038,401 USD), litigation costs (average cost: $650,361 USD), direct financial costs (average cost: $641,993 USD), damaged brand reputation/loss of customer trust (average cost: $638,496 USD) and lost revenue (average cost: $619,360 USD).

The survey found the top three social media incidents:
Employees sharing too much information in public forums (46 percent),
The loss or exposure of confidential information (41%).
Increased exposure to litigation (37%)

Bad Tweet = $4Million Loss