Data breaches and economic losses

12

October

2022

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In recent days, more and more companies are attacked by malicious hackers which are trying to breach personal data. However, most companies are not equipped with the needed security measures to reject these attacks. Data breaches these days typically affect millions of users with just a single attack against a single firm.

Attacks that compromise customers’ private financial data cause the greatest harm, degrading stock values and scaring customers away. Financial losses are not the only issue of concern to businesses in financial industries; data breaches erode users’ confidence and can damage a firm’s reputation.

Data breaches require a significant expense to solve the breach, as well as to determine what information was stolen and who was affected by the breach. Businesses that are victims of a data breach can face costs associated with mandatory credit monitoring of customers whose data has been compromised. One consequence of a data breach is that the company targeted will be liable to conduct forensic investigations in order to identify the causes of the data breach.

When a data breach occurs, businesses typically rush to inform customers, revamp security systems, and limit damage to their bottom lines and consumers’ confidence. While data breaches appear to be more common now because of cloud computing and increased digital storage, they have existed for as long as companies have maintained sensitive information and personal records.

When companies experience breaches of personal data, such as social security numbers and banking information, the average direct stock-market value loss is 1.12%, or $607 million, based on an average stock market value of $54.2 billion. After suffering a breach of customers’ personal data, the average firm that was attacked lost 1.1 percent in market value and experienced a drop in sales growth of 3.2 percentage points from a year ago.

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What influences our willingness to share data?

20

September

2022

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A recently published statistic by the Dutch Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS) shows that 77% of the Dutch population does not want IoT devices, either because of their price, convenience or security risk. 25% of the Dutch population is afraid for their privacy and the security when using IoT devices, which caused them to not use them. However, in the recent years, the implementation of IoT has been tremendous, not only in the homes, but also in the medical and manufacture sectors. It thereby raises the question on why 77% still decides to not use these types of devices. Especially for those who do not use them because they are afraid for their privacy and do not want to share their data.

Research shows us that there are several variables that influence our decision to share personal data. Some are: Perceived privacy Risk, Perceived security Risk, Perceived Trust, Perceived Convenience and information sensitivity.

These variables can have a positive or negative impact, but there is a gap in research on the hierarchy of importance of these variables. Only one research has been conducted into that subject, the research only took Perceived convenience, Perceived Trust and Information Sensitivity into account.

Some results were as to be expected, however, some else were really astonishing, the willingness of sharing data increases when the user perceives trust or great convenience. And, when the convenience is perceived high, all the other variables do not matter anymore. If someone experiences great convenience, the product they use for that convenience can be from un highly untrusted source and the information that is given can be of high sensitivity.

That means that if you are a product owner or project manager, you should increase the perceived Convenience, in that way you have the lowest chance of people not being willing to share personal data.

References

Cbs: “nederland loopt voorop met slimme apparaten thuis” – iot journaal, https://www.iotjournaal.nl/cbs-nederland-loopt-voorop-met-slimme-apparaten-thuis, (Accessed on 17/09/2022).

K. Rose, S. Eldridge, and L. Chapin, The internet of things: An overview,”The internet society (ISOC), vol. 80, pp. 1-50, 2015.

N. F. Awad and M. S. Krishnan, The personalization privacy paradox: An empirical evaluation of information transparency and the willingness to be profiled online for personalization,” MIS quarterly, pp. 13-28, 2006.

Internet of things (iot) market (2021-26): Industry size, growth, trends – mordor intelligence. [Online]. Available:   https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry- reports/internet- of- things- moving- towards -a-smarter-tomorrow-market-industry.

J. S. van Winkelhoff, Why do we share data? On the reasons that lead to sharing personal data with IoT services, 2022.

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