Wall Street writer Ben Worthen, in an article dated March 10, 09 recounts some of the growing risks of identity theft, validating many of the statistics I’ve given over the past two years.  Here’s a short excerpt:

“The number of reported data breaches of all kinds in the U.S. climbed to 656 last year from 446 in 2007, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit organization based in San Diego that helps identity-theft victims. These breaches affected some 36 million records — including Social Security numbers, credit-card accounts and other personal data.

Overall, more than 250 million records containing personal information have been lost or stolen since 2005, according to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse — and that’s driving more consumers to companies that say they can prevent theft.”

656 companies reporting ID theft

Over 250 Million identities expose

36 Million records exposed in 2008

Also noted in the article, Heartland processes over 11 Million Transactions per day, but a total number of exposed numbers has not been published.

Sound bites build credibility with asset owners and overcome technologist’s attempts to make their security sound solid.  Wall Street is a solid source to quote from given that most decision makers read it (or at least pretend to).