The loss or theft of personal data such as credit card and Social Security numbers <A HREF="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071230/ap_on_hi_te/data_breaches">soared to unprecedented levels in 2007,</A> and the trend isn't expected to turn around anytime soon as hackers stay a step ahead of security and laptops disappear with sensitive information.

And while companies, government agencies, schools and other institutions are spending more to protect ever-increasing volumes of data with more sophisticated firewalls and encryption, the investment often is too little too late.