[Dataloss] Article: The Cold, Hard Costs of Data Exposure

[lyger]

(since the question of "how much is my data worth" was asked earlier this 
week, here's more for the discussion)

Courtesy Dissent from pogowasright.org

http://www.esj.com/News/article.aspx?EditorialsID=2169

Again and again the stories surface; only the names seem to change. 
Company X reports a data breach after a laptop is stolen or a server is 
hacked, exposing Y numbers of customers to potential identity theft. The 
common response to these incidents includes notifying the affected 
customers (as required by various state laws) and (usually) offering a 
year.s free credit monitoring service.

What's untold is how much the episode is costing Company X, over and above 
the humiliation outlay. "Our estimate is that the cost ranges from $25 to 
$150 per impacted record," said Jon Oltsik, analyst at the Enterprise 
Strategy Group. More visible, national companies tend to spend more, he 
noted, as they have to notify people nationwide and stand more risk of 
losing their customers as a result of the incident. Local firms with 
minimal competition, such as a community hospital, can mount a less 
elaborate response, he said.

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