According to a study released on Thursday by the Ponemon Institute, a privacy and information management research firm, each customer record lost or compromised in 2007 cost companies $197, compared to $182 in 2006. That represents an increase of more than 8 percent.

This is the third year that the Ponemon Institute has conducted its <A HREF="http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=56983">U.S. Cost of a Data Breach survey;</A> the average per-incident cost has climbed each year. The increase between 2005 and 2006 was particularly steep, clocking in at over 40 percent.