By Evy Schwartz

Remember back when the Internet really started to take off? Online stores began to pop-up and we were presented with an interesting dilemma. On one hand, we wanted to take advantage of the new and convenient way to shop and do business. But it was so new, we weren’t sure we could trust our credit card information would be safe online. But we eventually came around and online business has been booming.

However, the tide is starting to turn. Trust is an issue again.

All of the recent data breaches we’ve been hearing about have a great deal to do with the break down of trust. But it goes much deeper now. With all sorts of data having gone digital, even our most private medical data is at risk.

Now much of our personal data is open to a breach by no choice of our own. A recent survey commissioned by an Austin-based software company found that most consumers in the U.S., Australia and the UK have lost confidence in how companies have handled personal data.

The problem here is not that the technology does not exist to prevent these breaches but the real issue is that companies aren’t always putting current technology in place to battle the bad guys.  Once companies begin to take this digital battle seriously and implement security measures on a widespread basis, they may be able to start earning back the trust of consumers worldwide.