Why After the Fact Doesn’t Matter

Data, laptops, etc. make headlines when they get stolen. Not good news for the companies that get heisted. Of course companies, governments and the like don’t want bad publicity. They hide or make excuses – implementing damage control as fast as possible.

Boy, do they sure feel good about themselves when that missing laptop with your social security number on it is found. Take this article for example.

A laptop computer containing personal information on more than half a million New York state workers has been found after it disappeared May 9 from the offices of a third-party data management company.

Excuse me, when did you say the laptop went missing? May 9th did you say? The point is that once data is gone, it is gone. You can’t get it back, and even if you find that missing laptop in a dumpster behind Starbucks, you have no idea what information was gathered, copied, sold, and to whom.

It may make people feel better, and companies look better, but these kinds of stories don’t usually mean much.

Stealing a laptop is not like stealing a bike, and recovering one isn’t the same either.