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Companies leave data security in customers' hands

By Madhusmita Bora, Times Staff Writer
In print: Saturday, March 22, 2008

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I wasn't a victim of the TJX Co. data breach that compromised more than 45-million customer credit cards. Nor did I lose sleep over the recent hack at Sweetbay Supermarket.

But I'm not celebrating my luck yet.

A recent report by Symantec says threats are more dynamic than ever with hackers hankering for big bucks and becoming more organized and commercialized. This, when a challenging economy is making businesses cringe on IT security spending.

For cash-allergic plastic users, that's bad news.

I caught up with a few technology security professionals, who huddled at the Westin in Tampa this week to show off their products, and talked about data vulnerabilities in our everyday lives.

It' not a pretty picture.

The Sweetbay kind of data leaks raises awareness, said James Shaeffer of Michigan's James C. Shaeffer Associates.

"Unfortunately, it also leads to more legislation," he said.

Unfortunate, because we need laws to force companies to comply with industry security standards, something they should be doing on their own.

At the minimum it takes about $100 to secure a personal computer, but company bosses would rather add that to their own bonus, Shaeffer said.

To increase profits, many tech security companies are now targeting businesses that require federal compliance. But sometimes, even that doesn't work.

Chris Cook, principal of Tampa-based Security Awareness Inc., which provides security awareness training to employees, met quite a few interested parties at Thursday's tech event. They had the desire to buy his product, but no money.

"It's like driving a car without a license and insurance," he said.

In case of a wreck, the victim is the innocent consumer.

Madhusmita Bora can be reached

at mbora@sptimes.com