Want to know the largest data breaches of the last twelve months?  Network World has a list that will both inform and frighten you.  Take a look and see if you were a part of any of these.

Why is this important?  Data breaches can lead to all sorts of bad outcomes like identity theft, credit card fraud, stolen confidential data, and others.  It costs a lot of money too, the recent cost of the Target data breach has already surpassed $200 million.  These costs will be recovered through higher prices, which consumers will pay at the checkout aisle.  Like any other crime, people’s lives are disrupted too while remediation takes place.

What can you do about it?  The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has some good information on this subject and organizations like NACHA are working with the payments industry to prevent data breaches.  However, there isn’t much you can do about data breaches until after the event.  What is important is that consumers know that data breaches can happen to them and be prepared to deal with them.

Being prepared isn’t about TEOTWAWKI, killer asteroids, or super volcanoes; those scenarios are both unlikely and impossible to prepare for.  However, in our interconnected world, data breaches and other technology issues happen.  Preparing for these types of disasters will be a better use of both your time and money than unlikely extinction-level events.