The Cost of Data Loss

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The Cost of Data Loss

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Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Posted Saturday, May 01, 2010 2:57 PM

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Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Cost of Data Loss

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Post #914273

L' Eomot Inversé

Posted Sunday, May 02, 2010 5:50 PM

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Steve said

The good side is that trustworthy, and skilled, DBAs become more and more valuable all the time. That should mean higher salaries in the future.

I can agree that that is good, but if I had to name "the good side" I would say that the good side is that it increases the interests of corporations in keeping my data secure, which decreases the risk of my privacy being sacrificed completely for some big company's corporate gain.
Sure, I recognise that discouragement of "losing" (usually an euphemism for disclosing or broadcasting) my data may decrease the chance of people with a record of dishonest disclosure of personal data getting a job. And that sounds far more important than those "higher salaries in the future".
As far as I can make out, my attitude is far from common in the US. Most Americans believe in the good old "you don't need privacy if you have nothing to hide" mantra and haven't read 1984. But I was surprised and shocked by this editorial, I thought people concerned with databases would have a different approach, but no, the higher salary is the editorial's closing word.
Steve, I may be misunderstanding you (I hope so) and if so please let me know.

Tom
Que conclure à la fin de tous mes longs propos? C'est que les préjugés sont la raison des sots. (Voltaire, 1756)

Post #914427

Jeff Moden

Posted Sunday, May 02, 2010 6:29 PM

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Heh... I read 1984, "Enemy of the State" is one of my favorite movies, and I can certainly understand Tom's sentiment on this. I also have a grand appreciation for what he said especially about the ol' "you don't need privacy if you have nothing to hide" mantra. It burns me to no end that credit card companies, insurance companies, banks, and a whole lot of other places just can't seem to live without knowing my physical address, my bought-and-paid-for unlisted telephone number, my email address, where I work, and my Social Security Number along with a lot of other information that I don't believe they actually need to conduct business. And then the buggers lose my data. Folks just don't understand the need for privacy until it's been invaded.

Reaching way down inside, what I took from Steve's editorial is that "good enough" frequently is not and that getting things out on schedule isn't the best idea if it isn't complete especially when it comes to security and process. Folks have heard me say many times on this forum that it's not my manager's or CEO's butt in the sling if something goes wrong... it's mine.

It's always been important but it's becoming even more important lately. It only takes one "Aw s--t" to wipe out a thousand "Atta-boy"s. Protect your reputation at all times. The data may not be yours but if you don't think you have ownership, think again. Do it right all the time every time.

Now... if we could only teach folks what "right" actually means. Wink

--Jeff Moden

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Stop thinking about what you want to do to a row... think, instead, of what you want to do to a column."

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Post #914432

Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Posted Sunday, May 02, 2010 7:50 PM

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Tom,

I completely wrote this from the employment perspective for DBAs. Keeping data safe, being honest, those are important and if you don't do this, even "under orders", you might not be that employable in the future. If you do, you might be worth more money.

I think that there are a lot of people that see a lack of privacy as no issue in some places, especially in criminal proceedings. However most people I know are concerned about the lack of privacy of data. No so concerned they'll vote someone out of office on that issue. But concerned.

I think I agree with you, Tom, that companies are not safeguarding our data very well, and that they are playing loose with it. I'd like to see more fines like this so DBAs get more tools, and more control over keeping things as safe as possible.

And they are held to the high standard of doing so.

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Post #914437

Brandie Tarvin

Posted Monday, May 03, 2010 5:16 AM

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Fidelity happens to be in my neck of the woods, so I found this article very interesting and very sad. It disheartens me to know that the few bad DBA apples are going to make life difficult for the rest of us.

RE: Iron Mountain. Used to work for them myself. That mine you're talking about is an old salt mine (that's what they told us when I worked there, anyway) that does wonders for preserving documents because the salt is absorbing all the humidity in the air. Every single person who works at that location has a flash light in their desk (and spare batteries) in case the power goes out and is drilled relentlessly in evacuation procedures and routes so they can find their way out if something happens. And that mine has lots and lots of locked vaults for the data it stores.

I always found the thought kinda nifty and wish I'd had the opportunity to visit. @=)

BTW, Iron Mountain is where I learned about business continuity and disaster recovery, two subjects every DBA should know something about. The company has an off-site backup business and stores physical media tapes at several of its climate controlled locations. To properly understand those accounts, I had to be educated in why they provided those services.

Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database Administrator, MCDBA, MCSA

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Post #914582

Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Posted Monday, May 03, 2010 7:01 AM

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Yep, it's an old salt mine and sounds cool. However, not being an underground guy, if they offer a tour, I'll send you, Brandie. I don't even go into mines here in CO on tours (to the dismay of my kids).

They bought the company that started this service, though Iron Mountain started from an old iron mine.

It's a neat idea, and while it's not an unlimited resource, I like that they're recycling the space and not abandoning it.

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Post #914635

Brandie Tarvin

Posted Monday, May 03, 2010 8:11 AM

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Steve Jones - Editor (5/3/2010)

However, not being an underground guy, if they offer a tour, I'll send you, Brandie.

I'll hold you to that. @=)

It's a neat idea, and while it's not an unlimited resource, I like that they're recycling the space and not abandoning it.

We need to do more of that. We keep taking down plains and forests and drilling through mountains for new space while completely ignoring the space we've previously abandoned. Now, in some cases, abandoned spaces are necessary (toxic waste dumps, etc.). Still it would be nice to take some of those other old mines and repurpose them somehow.

Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database Administrator, MCDBA, MCSA

Webpage: http://www.BrandieTarvin.net
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Freelance Writer: Shadowrun
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Post #914702

SQLRNNR

Posted Monday, May 03, 2010 10:15 AM

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I am of the same opinion as Jeff. I don't like that the banks need so much of my personal information and then they can't seem to manage it properly. I think they should be fined to the extreme should my personal information be lost.

This does point out the need for honorable persons to be managing the data. And I do hope that as that becomes more apparent, the salary will be commensurate. It could also mean that the cost of maintaining the data will become more expensive even without fines.

Jason AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
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