[Dataloss] Data leaks hit share prices hard

[Dissent]

Australian-based analyst Hydrasight has teamed up with Colorado-based 
researcher Enterprise Management Associates Inc. (EMA) to release a 
study on the current state of global enterprise information security.

The report draws a comparison between the theft or breach of 
confidential information and computer-facilitated financial fraud and 
the impact it has on organizations in terms of share price. While the 
organizations studied were based in the U.S., the findings reflect a 
similar security environment in Australia.

Scott Crawford, senior analyst with EMA, said within four weeks of 
public disclosure of details of an information breach, negative 
responses show up in the form of falling share prices. The impact can 
be disturbing, he added.

"EMA recently followed the closing stock prices of six US companies 
which had disclosed an information security breach between February 
2005 and June 2006.

"Within a month of disclosure, the average price of these stocks fell 
by 5 percent, and remained in a range of 2.4 to 8.5 percent below 
that of the date of disclosure for another eight months," he said.

"The stocks did not recover to pre-incident levels for nearly a year."

[...]

http://www.webwereld.nl/articles/43234/data-leaks-hit-share-prices-hard.html