Data breaches are now common events that affect an organization in many ways besides attorney fees, lost business, reputational damage, and system remediation costs. Back in 1970, in a now classic book, Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross wrote On Death and Dying, which identified five stages of grieving and emotions that terminally ill patients experience. It is my contention that organizations have to deal with similar data breach grief.

{Table 1}

Taken together, these breaches total more than 100 million credit card numbers, over 313 million personal records, and at least a few dozen celebrities in shots their publicists did not pre-approve for release.

What can we learn from organizations that have experienced a confirmed data beach? For one thing, individuals on the front line of defending their organizations against the entire world of cyber criminals may be victims themselves. They may experience the same disappointment and grief as a customer whose data is compromised. They are confused. They may feel a lack of focus and confidence in themselves. They may have sleepless nights and an increased level of anxiety.

The modern, real-world cybercrime landscape is dynamic and ever-changing, and the people, processes, and technologies required to remain secure are constantly expanding. There are ingenious and well-orchestrated attacks on various organizations of all types and sizes, as noted in the table above, that cause executives to lose their jobs. Chief information security officers are constantly barraged with demands to do more with less, while keeping the organization secure at the same time.

Data breaches are always costly and disruptive in an emergency situation. They can be just as taxing on an organization’s employees. Of course, most of this stress can be avoided by preventing a security incident before it happens. As painful as an IT audit or security penetration test may feel while you are going through it, it is simple in comparison to the stress and stakes involved in a serious data breach.