[Dataloss] Is dataloss becoming the next 'computer virus' trend?

[security curmudgeon]

: We see these reports of data loss, laptop theft, databse compromises, 
: etc, etc, etc on a weekly, if not daily basis.  Some of these are quite 
: large, too. Yet after the initial hysteria of "yet another theft of 
: data" story making the rounds in the media, is anyone tracking not just 
: the number of events, but the outcome of such events over time?

We are making an effort to track not only the initial disclosure, but the 
long term effect and outcome. You will see some of the mails on the list 
tagged [follow-up] to denote it isn't a new event, but new information 
related to an older event. Ideally, we'd like to track as much information 
about each as possible, including if the information was abused, 
'recovered', the bad guy caught and/or prosecuted, and more.

: I can't remember too many dataloss cases that had much of a "tail" to 
: them after the initial event was reported in the media: What happens 
: after the organization in question notifies their victims?  Does it 

I'd imagine most companies don't want to keep their name in the spotlight, 
and won't issue press releases unless it is about the bad guy getting 
caught and "relative certainty" that the information was not abused.