Victims: Please E-Mail Us

Jan 1, 2007 12:00 PM, Larry Anderson, Editor

Do you think you were a victim of the T.J.X. security breach?

That was the question that caught my eye on the ABC News Web site. It was referring to the most recent theft of customer information, including names and credit card numbers, from The T.J.X. Companies, which owns retailers T.J. Maxx, Marshall's, Home Goods, Bob's and A.J. Wright. The Massachusetts retailer, which has 2,500 outlets, “says it doesn't know the full impact of the breach yet,” according to ABCNews.com.

The site then asks its visitors if they have been victimized by the security breach, and if they have, it asks them to “fill out the form below, and an ABC News producer may contact you.”

Far be it from me to fault a news organization for using whatever tools are at its disposal to look for sources to beef up its coverage, but two points come to mind:

First, it appears that stories about companies or organizations losing big databases of private customer information have lost some of their shock value. In the last year we consumers have been bombarded by one report after another of such breaches, so that it has become more like background noise of security media coverage. It all blends together and no longer grabs our attention as would, say, a story about an elderly lady somewhere in the Midwest who is stuck with a $2,000 bill for someone else's lingerie; hence, the ABC News effort to find that lady and goose up the human interest angle of the story.

Second, the appeal to Web visitors emphasizes that news coverage abhors a vacuum. In the absence of information from the company — which “doesn't know the full impact of the breach yet” — news organizations will go elsewhere — anywhere — for anecdotal information to fill in the gap. It's far better that the company make sure it does know the full impact of the breach as soon as possible and that it communicate the impact to the public. Even negative news is better communicated in the most complete way possible, and with as much context as possible.

We welcome your feedback:
E-mail landerson@securitysolutions.com

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© 2012 Penton Media Inc.

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