Editor's Note: New Year's Resolution: Be More Secure

You must be kidding me. Some still haven't learned their lesson! That was the feeling around here when we heard from a reader that the Justice Department's Web site had exposed the names and Social Security numbers of numerous people. Then Marriott lost a backup tape with sensitive customer information. Just weeks ago, Ford lost data on workers, then ABN Amro lost (and recovered) a backup tape ... The list seems endless. A year that was already laden with serious customer-data blunders ended on a sour note.

We aren't talking about exposing the phone numbers of Paris Hilton's boyfriends. We mean Social Security numbers, bank-account numbers--all what identity thieves need to succeed, and to suck dry bank accounts and customer trust. No need for such thieves to illegally dig around for this information when some companies and government agencies will make it readily available because of poor backup-tape practices, stupid errors, or inadequate security and data-access measures.

Identity theft is rising at an alarming rate. One survey suggests that some 44 million people have been a victim of identity theft or fraud. The Federal Trade Commission puts that number at only 10 million. Whichever is correct, that's way too many. Sure, careless consumers share some blame. But clearly there's a lot more that companies and government can do to make us feel safer doing business with them.

A look at business-technology priorities for 2006, according to our annual survey, reveals that optimizing business processes is at the top of the list (see "Outlook 2006: Confidence Is Up, Barely"). I hope those processes involve customer-data protection and privacy training.

Here's to a more secure 2006.

Stephanie Stahl,
Editor-in-chief
[email protected]

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