Today we have an editorial reprinted from Sept 19, 2005 as Steve is on vacation.

Most breaches of security, stolen data, etc. are almost always the result of some breakdown in the human factor of the equation. By that I mean some interaction between the human "bad guys" and some human in the company. It could be stealing a laptop, sorting through trash or even paying for it. Or perhaps this method.

I saw this article about bank fraud, but not the kind I expected. After all, I got called last year by my cell phone provider in a similar situation. You are late on your bill, make a telephone payment, presumably because you're short of time. In my case I didn't even call them back, which I should have. In this case, the individual writing just called and made a payment over the phone.

A short time later a suspicious charge appeared. The person tracked it down to customer service that had been outsourced and someone at the outsourcing company was selling or passing along information to criminals that would use it in some type of identity theft crime. No word on what is happening with the investigation or even which company it is.

To me, this the worst method of saving money, and if this results in security breaches, the name of the company should be publicized. Most of these corporations are not losing money. They are racing to make more, increase the stock price, whatever, and in doing so, they are sending out a piece of their core business. Customer service should be a cornerstone of any company. That is how you show that you are the place someone wants to do business. I'm not sure I even agree with outsourcing IT since that data is critical and vital to your company as well, but there is no way customer service is not a core part of your business.

If you're missing that point, you're missing the function of a business in the world.