Leader: Is ignorance bliss?

Has your bank been a victim of a website hack or similar act of cybercrime? Yes? No? How would you know?

What about your online bookmaker, grocer or travel shop? How sure can you be that not having heard anything is a guarantee of security? They have your credit card details and other personal data but that doesn't mean they'll tell you if something goes wrong.

There is a strong belief among those in the security industry that the majority of cybercrime still goes unreported for a number of reasons - namely in preservation of customer trust, investor confidence and share price.

Following a recent security scare with online bank Cahoot a number of customers were vocal about their intention to switch.

Many other banks have been involved in similar scares, and many other bank customers have made similar threats but it remains an oft-repeated fact that we will change our partners more than we change our bank accounts during our lifetime.

Of course there is a growing pragmatism among consumers. A breach isn't the end of the world - but a bungled recovery could be.

However, a seamless, confidently handled recovery can actually work in a company's favour.

Given that probability states a great many companies will become victims of cybercrime in the coming years and others will already have done, unbeknownst to us, there is a school of thought which invites the question 'would you rather your money was with a company you knew had been a victim of cybercrime and learned from the experience, or have your money with a company which has not yet, or not so far as you are aware, been a victim of cybercrime?'.

Obviously there is a limit. It has to be demonstrable, by no future repetition, that companies have learned from their vulnerabilities.

Speaking at the Computer and Internet Crime Conference in London this week, one security professional told silicon.com: "I would prefer to be with a bank that I know had suffered a security breach but that I had also seen deal with it responsibly and effectively and put in place processes for dealing with any future problems of that nature."

He expressed a belief that companies who experience problems but overcome them ably are often regarded in higher esteem by customers than those companies who remain unchallenged.

"People who see there is a problem and a fantastic fix in place tend to be happier customers."

Plus: Read our full analysis piece on the importance of effective crisis management.

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