But this newfound visibility has done little to help customers whose financially-related account information has been placed at risk. Most companies offer little more than a free year's worth of credit monitoring. Something that can be bought for between $50 to $100 from the major credit reporting agencies. The best thing a consumer can do is place a freeze on their credit reports. But if their account information or Social Security number already has been used for credit card fraud or outright identity theft, they're facing many painful hours and hundreds of dollars lost trying to regain control of their name. Not to mention the hassle of rebuilding credit.
The bad news for IT security managers is that there are now more than 35 individual state security breach laws, many different than SB 1386. There's little hope in being compliant to all 35 -- so most enterprises follow California's lead and hope they're in compliance with the rest. But there's risk in this approach, as some states have lower standards that trigger a breach notification.
What's needed is a federal law that would establish a clear and consistent mandate for customer breach notifications.