The Eyes Have it

Have you ever been banking at an ATM and felt like the people in line behind you were standing a little too close? Or the card swipe at the grocery store? How about the catalog salesperson who asks for your card info AND the secret number. Does a little wisp of doubt ever cross your mind that the whole thing is some elaborate scam?

The Wizard of Odds

Now imagine the ATM again, with a J.P. Morgan logo on it. Only this time there’s a little man on the inside of the ATM collecting personal and business details for 83 million accounts, and he doesn’t work for the bank. He’s parsing the data, mining it for a closer look at the infrastructure beneath it.

No need to imagine it. This scenario is the latest and among the largest data breaches ever, and it seems the ship has only struck the tip of the iceberg. Does it still sink?

Having just heard the news, you stand poised to slide your card into the ATM or the card swipe. That’s a wisp of doubt you feel. What are the odds that your account will be violated by the man pulling the levers and switches?

Too Big to Fail?

The wisp of doubt can make or break a reputation. The ultimate casualty is, of course, the bank, the grocery store, the home supply warehouse, the vendor making your life easier through digital payments. Recovery costs range in the hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars per record. Take a little time to do the math. But even after they’ve fixed the leak, the company has to earn your trust again.

The world trusts you with their data. You’ve earned it. Is your organization too big to fail?