The Connecticut Privacy Forum Highlights Very Real Risks For Businesses

On Monday,  I attended the Connecticut Privacy Forum hosted by Travelers.  This Forum was a well attended inaugural meeting of privacy and data security professionals.  I came away from the meeting very impressed with the panel of speakers and topics on the agenda.  I also came away from the meeting as convinced as ever that data loss and security breaches pose a significant risk for nearly all businesses that use computers. 

In one of my earlier posts,  I touched on some of the risks involved for businesses related to data loss and security breaches.  I also offered some potential solutions.  At the Privacy Forum, data loss statistics were presented by the speakers and confirmed that these risks are very real for businesses.  Here is a sample of some of the statistics from 2008 alone:

• 80 million records were compromised
• 580 data loss or breach incidents were reported
• $202 per record was the average cost to business for loss or breach 
• 47% of the incidents involved corporations or businesses
• 33% involved compromised social security numbers 

The speakers also offered some of the solutions for businesses in terms of risk management and planning.  The seminar further included a detailed overview of federal and state laws covering privacy rights and data security.   You can access the presentation materials at ctprivacy.com 

Overall, this was a great event concerning a topic that will continue to be relevant to business litigation in the coming years.  Congratulations to the organizers, David Baker and Peter Bernstein, from Travelers on a well run event!