Hardly a day goes by without a report of a data breach of a financial institution, newspaper, hospital, utility company, or government agency. The breaches may be caused by an employee sharing sensitive security information, or by a domestic or foreign hacking group who managed to penetrate the security perimeter of the company, just to name two.
After a company is hit by a data breach, sensitive consumer information can be at risk. This can include personal health information, bank accounts, Social Security numbers, or other financial or personally identifiable information. Although a company is itself the victim of a data breach, it may in turn be the target of class action litigation arising out of the breach, due to the loss of its customers personal data.
