Guardian Sustainable Business: Privacy and Data Security: Why Should Investors Care?

On Tuesday, May 28, 2013, the Guardian Sustainable Business printed an Op-ed which is co-authored by Trillium’s Natasha Lamb, Corey Johnson of Pax World Funds and Michael Connor, the Executive Director of Open MIC, a non-profit organization that works with companies and investors on open media issues.

The authors note:

“…While privacy is vital to consumers, ensuring proper data management is also critical to investors in publicly-held US companies. Our research shows that even the largest and most sophisticated enterprises may not be adequately prepared to deal with these challenges.

The Securities and Exchange Commission highlighted the importance of the problem in 2011 when it issued guidelines requiring public companies to disclose the material risks of cyber incidents. According to the Ponemon Institute, they’re significant. Companies spend $5.5m on average, or roughly $194 per customer, to resolve data breach issues. Ponemon also found breaches can diminish brand value and reputation by 17-31%, or $184m to over $330m…”

You can read the entire piece here.