[Dataloss] (Commentary) Has "data loss" jumped the shark?

[lyger]

For those of you not familiar with the term in the subject, it harkens 
back to an old episode of "Happy Days" where Fonzie revs up his motorcycle 
and literally "jumps a shark".  Some would argue that from that point on, 
"Happy Days" was never the same again; it reached its peak and from there, 
it went all downhill.

http://www.jumptheshark.com/

Looking at Attrition's Data Loss web page and Data Loss Database (DLDOS), 
I can't help but think of all of the time and research spent on 
chronicling these events.  26 million here, 72 there, a couple thousand 
here and there.  This month (February 2007) alone, the web page and 
database have already been updated 17 times... and it's only the 11th of 
the month.  Other than for hardcore privacy advocates and those who make 
their living in the security, identity theft prevention, or risk 
management arenas, is it even news anymore?  Is data loss really still 
worthy of front-page news headlines, or has it become so commonplace that 
it should be expected as much as we expect the sun to rise in the morning?

Regarding data loss issues, TJX has probably been the biggest story of the 
year thus far.  Even so, the company itself flat out refuses to give any 
totals of the number of people impacted.  Why should they?  It would just 
mean "YANS" (yet another news story) for them to provide information, 
field phone calls, and do even more damage control for an already 
complicated situation.  If they keep quiet and don't disclose, their 
"story" will eventually "jump the shark", become old news, and fade away.

At what point will most people see "YANS" in their newspaper or on the 
internet and just turn the page or click another link?  At what point does 
this become an issue where most people will simply say "so what?".