No matter how you feel about the WikiLeaking of the U.S. State Department documents, you have to admit this — the opportunity for risk exposure in our brave new increasingly connected world is growing by leaps and bounds.

And whether you consider WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a freedom-of-speech hero, an international spy who should be executed for treason, or just another guy accused of sexual assault, you have to agree that he's got a lot of people scared of him.

Like Bank of America, for one. Just last week, after the exiled Assange announced to Forbes that the target of his next document dump would involve a “major American bank,” BOA's stock took a hit. The latest news is that the financial giant is gearing up for whatever may come by setting up a “war room” to deal with the fallout — even though there has never been definitive proof that they're the target of Assange's next attack.

The lesson here is twofold. The first, obviously, is that the always-important need for careful corporate risk management has taken on new urgency in the world of Web 2.0 (or whatever number we're up to now). As an independent insurance agent or broker, it's unlikely that any web vigilante will be drawing a bead on your business's documents anytime soon. But with most business today being conducted online, and with the steady increase in cyberhacking, the risk just becomes riskier every day. And if you're not at risk, your corporate or even personal customers probably are.

The second lesson is more pervasive, and more frightening — that just about anyone with a vendetta and a little technological know-how can hold a business hostage in just the way Assange did with his non-specific comment about targeting an American bank.

Assange apologists maintain that plenty of people already had access to the State Department documents, and that most of their revelations weren't exactly a big surprise. Other may say it's a matter of ethics — that if a business (or government) doesn't have anything to hide, it doesn't have anything to fear. Both these perspectives miss the point. It doesn't matter if the leaked information is inflammatory, illegal, interesting or even true. The simple fact that confidential information, illegally obtained, can be used as a weapon against its owner is frightening enough.

Mark Twain's old adage, “A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on” has taken on a frightening new relevance in today's world, where reputations are ruined at the click of a mouse.

The Internet in its early days was a place of wide-open spaces, attracting risk-takers, peaceful pioneers and freedom-loving citizens alike who wanted to share information and learn from each other. Soon, however, that freedom attracted snake-oil salesmen, cattle rustlers and gunslingers. Pretty soon, any hombre with a gun and a posse could hold a town hostage. Only when the townies fought back with weapons of their own did the wild west get tame.

As trusted advisors, agents and brokers are in a key position to counsel their customers on how to protect themselves against security breaches that could lead to a host of problems. And as business owners, agents and brokers must take care to protect their own confidential information against hackers whose only concern is making a name for themselves.

Are any of your customers voicing concerns about being targeted for document leaks? Are you concerned about your own business?

Special Reports /

Toops Scoops: WikiLeaks and the World Wide Wild West

Related Stories

Recommended For You