Emergent Chaos

So reports Sharon Gaudin in Information Week. Actually, I think she picked up the story as McAfee spun it: "Companies Say Security Breach Could Destroy Their Business:"

One-third of companies said in a recent poll that a major security breach could put their company out of business, according to a report from McAfee.

The security company unveiled a study Tuesday showing that 33% of respondents said they believe a major data-loss incident involving accidental or malicious distribution of confidential data could put them out of business. The study, called Datagate, is based on a survey of more than 1,400 IT professionals at companies with at least 250 employees in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Australia.

The number of companies that have gone under because of a breach is statistically indistinguishable from zero. That's the case if you express it as a percentage of companies breached, or as a percentage of companies going out of business. McAfee should do better than spread this sort of FUD, especially when we can measure what's really happening.

If you're a customer, you should call your McAfee salesperson, and ask for examples, and ask why they're spreading this FUD.