The statements go like this. An investigation is undertaken by the company that lost the data. The company wants to make it very clear that the nondescript perpetrator with no distinguishing marks or features is just a common thief with no bad intentions.

The company is confident the theft of 250,000 credit card numbers was human error and the recipient of the data doesn't recognize its value.Therefore, the data will not be misused. It was all just a coincidence really when the subcontractor tripped over a daisy.

Here are the most recent breaches to land on my desk. Two US Navy laptops stolen from a locked vehicle. They haven't been recovered. A PC containing personal information on 36,000 US military veterans goes missing. Subcontractor is blamed and it didn't involve a petrol station.

A month earlier the personal details of 26.5 million people stolen from an employee's home. No signs of any motor vehicles in this particular case.My point? Beware of corporate espionage, there I said it. This is a topic very few will discuss but it is a reality.

I'm not implying that any of the cases I've mentioned involve any form of spying or hanky panky.