This week, we report on an interesting question about the ownership of data when a company goes out of business. Who is responsible for protecting this information still in the computers of a company that went down? The answer is not clear. How does a company dispose of sensitive data that they have in their databases? Where does the information go and who ultimately protects it?

"Hard drives are being removed and sold online, or whole servers are sold via Craigslist and Ebay," said James DeLuccia, author of IT Compliance & Controls in an article in CIO magazine.

There is no real protection for much of this information, and it is clearly an issue that a bankruptcy court or a company's officers must deal with in closing down a company. If they don't, there will be plenty of data out in cyberspace available for the highest bidder to grab at the expense of a customer who provided too much information to a company that went under. - Judi