Tablus: protecting the dignity
of good names

"Lose my information and you've lost my business," was the overwhelming response in a survey of 400 consumers' views on brand equity as it relates to data breaches, per a study by Tablus, MarketingCharts reports.

Some 87 percent of consumers surveyed said they lost respect for businesses that misplaced sensitive customer information.

The survey also revealed a majority of respondents saw a strong link between data breaches and brand equity. Among the findings:

• 93 percent of respondents said businesses have an obligation to protect sensitive content.
• 95 percent felt there was no excuse for a company to expose a customer's confidential information.
• 85 percent preferred doing business with a company that never experienced a data breach.
• 82 percent of respondents would warn others from doing business with a company that exposed customers' personal information.

Additionally:

• 82 percent said companies that never experienced data loss were more trustworthy than those that have.
• 96 percent thought a company's highest priority should be protecting customers from data breaches.
• 94 percent said if there was a technology that could prevent the loss of confidential personal information, all businesses handling such information should use it.
• 90 percent stated that they did not trust companies that couldn't provide protection for confidential information.
• And 88 percent of respondents perceived companies that provided better protection of customers' confidential information to have better reputations.

"This survey shows how essential content protection is to an organization, not just from an IT perspective, but from the value a brand has in the public eye," said David Puglia, VP of marketing for Tablus.

"Newspaper headlines have shown how fragile brand equity can be after a company experiences a data breach, and companies must stay ahead of the threat in order to maintain brand equity."