"A good brand and reputation can take years to build but can be severely damaged or even destroyed by a single security incident," Ernst & Young Technology & Security Risk Service chief Paul van Kessel said in a release. For the past few years, most improvements in information security stemmed from regulatory compliance, he said, but now the desire to protect brand is motivating many firms to "do more than just tick regulatory and corporate compliance boxes."

Despite tightening economies, the report indicates that organizations are increasing investments in information security and more are adopting international security standards. About 67 percent of respondents interviewed say they have now implemented controls to protect personal information. Half of respondents are set to increase their budgets for security and only 5 percent plan to decrease money flowing to those accounts, officials said.