Security Isn't Expensive. Getting Hacked Is.

A data breach costs $4.45M on average. A security scan takes 60 seconds and costs nothing. Do the math before attackers do it for you.

October 24, 2025

Let's talk about cost.

Not the cost of adding security to your app.

The cost of not adding it.

The Real Price Tag of a Breach

When developers hear "app security," they think about cost:

"How much will this SDK cost?"

"How many dev hours will integration take?"

"Can we afford this right now?"

But nobody asks: "Can we afford NOT to do this?"

Here's what a data breach actually costs:

Average Breach Cost: $4.45 Million (IBM Security Report, 2024)

That number includes:

Legal fees and regulatory fines

Customer notification costs

PR and crisis management

Lost revenue from churned users

Class-action lawsuits

Stock price drops (for public companies)

And that's just the measurable damage.

What You Can't Put a Price On

Some costs don't show up on a balance sheet:

Reputation Damage
One breach = permanent trust loss. Users who leave after a security incident rarely come back.

Opportunity Cost
While you're firefighting a breach, your competitors are shipping features and acquiring your users.

Team Morale
Your engineers will spend months fixing the mess instead of building the product they care about.

Founder Stress
Ask any founder who's dealt with a breach: the emotional toll is brutal. Sleepless nights, anxiety, guilt it's not worth it.

The Asymmetry of Security Costs

Here's the math that should terrify every founder:

Action	Cost	Time
Run AppShield security scan	$0 (free)	60 seconds
Apply Security Box protection	~$500-2000/year	1 click
Recover from a data breach	$4.45M average	6-12 months

The cost of prevention is a rounding error compared to the cost of recovery.

"But We're Too Small to Be Targeted"

Wrong.

Attackers don't manually choose targets anymore. They use automated bots that scan millions of apps looking for vulnerabilities.

If you have users, you have data.
If you have data, you're a target.

Small apps are actually more attractive because:

You likely have weaker security (attackers know this)

You're less likely to have legal teams ready to fight back

You probably don't have PR crisis plans

Your users trust you which makes the breach more damaging

The Cheapest Insurance You'll Ever Buy

Think of app security like this:

You wouldn't drive a car without insurance, even if you're a safe driver. Because you're not insuring against your mistakes you're insuring against everyone else's mistakes.

App security is the same.

Even if your code is perfect:

Users run your app on compromised devices

Third-party SDKs have vulnerabilities

Attackers discover new exploits daily

One bad actor can ruin everything

Security isn't about being perfect. It's about being protected.

What $0 Gets You Today

Run a free AppShield scan and you'll learn:

Your app's security score (0-100)

Which protections are missing

How easy your app is to hack