The cost of data breaches continues to rise, and malicious attacks accounted for more of them in 2009 than in previous years, according to a study published today.

In conjunction with study sponsor PGP Corp., Ponemon Institute today released the results of its fifth annual “U.S. Cost of a Data Breach” report. The news isn’t good, according to the research firm’s founder, Larry Ponemon.

The 2009 study showed a slight increase in the organizational cost of a data breach — from $6.65 million to $6.75 million per incident — and a slight increase in the average cost per compromised record, from $202 to $204.