This is no April Fool’s Joke. Some security experts are saying this may be the biggest security breach ever.

On April 1, Epsilon, an online marketing unit of Alliance Data Systems Corp., announced that an outside intrusion had hacked into many of its customer files. In a brief statement, Epsilon says it detected a breach on March 30 during which “clients’ customer data were exposed by an unauthorized entry into Epsilon’s e-mail system.”

Epsilon runs email campaigns and send offers to consumers who register for a company’s website. Epsilon sends more than 40 billion e-mails annually and also runs loyalty programs for Citi and Chase credit card users.

Banking institutions and retailers that are affecte by this breach: Citi, Capitol One, Verizon, Chase, U.S. Bank, Barclays Bank of Delaware, Ritz-Carlton Rewards, Brookstone, Kroger, Marriott International, Walgreens, Visa, New York & Co., TiVo, HSN and L.L. Bean.

How could this affect you?

If your name and email address were included in this breach, you should be aware that Epsilon’s databases house consumer information cybercriminals could use for targeted phishing attacks (“A way of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.” – Wikipedia.)

So be especially suspicious of emails that look like they are from your financial institution or a retailer you know.

Good practices to follow:

• Never provide your login ID or password requested through email.
• Don’t respond to e-mails that require you to enter personal information directly into the e-mail.
• Don’t respond to e-mails threatening to close your account if you do not take the immediate action of providing personal information.
• Do not provide or confirm any information, including credit card numbers requested through email.
• Don’t use your e-mail address as a login ID or password.
• Be caution when opening links or attachments from unknown senders.
• Delete any emails requesting personal information.

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I have something to say that is off topic for this blog in some ways, and yet in other ways it is entirely on topic.

My wife and I attended a funeral visitation last night, and I’ve been thinking a lot about it.

A young man that she had gone to high school with had passed away. He was in his early thirties, and he met a sudden, tragic end.

I did not know him, but the tragedy of this situation weighs very heavy on my mind and my heart. And it causes me to reflect.

Seeing his family gather in the funeral home, as hundreds and hundreds of people filed through to offer their condolences, caused so many thoughts and emotions to fire through my mind.

First, the thought of what they must be going through is heart wrenching. I can’t begin to imagine the pain.

He and his wife had been married just two weeks earlier. Can you imagine what she must be going through?

At the front of the room, on a picture board, were pictures from their wedding.

One photo really hit me. It was hard to get my eyes off it, and it has stuck with me. It was a picture of the couple dancing at the wedding reception, arms fully extended, nearly ready for a ballroom pull-back. They each had huge grins. They were so flush with pure life and pure love, a feeling I still carry from my wedding just over a year ago.

And as I looked away from the photo board and turned, just 5 feet to the left of this incredible photo was the casket. It was open, and inside was a much-too-young man with his hands crossed on his chest.

The moment of seeing into a casket, in the half dozen times I’ve witnessed this in my life, always shocks my system so deeply. There is no vision more striking to me than this.

The reality of our mortality and the utter finality of it all is so clear and so unavoidable at that moment, standing there, looking down.

And the contrast to the photos that I’d just seen was absolutely crushing. It was all I could do to keep myself from breaking out crying, just for the sadness of the moment.

So why am I writing about this here, on our blog, in close company with long, dry articles about naming conventions for LLC’s allowed under California Code, and about annual corporate compliance requirements?

Because it’s all part of what we do and why we do it. There are the fine details, and there is the big picture. Both are so important.

Our business is, to a great extent, about the fine details. It’s what we’re good at. But we are always motivated by the big picture. And a goal of our work is to free up some extra brainspace in our clients’ minds, so they can focus on the big picture as well.

As entrepeneurs, as members of our families, as humans; we work hard to build our businesses, so we can have the time and opportunity to live life. To cherish and spend time with those we love. To give back to our communities. To add value to the world.

Here’s wishing all of you a successful 2009 and 2010 ahead, with growth in your business, and safety and good health to you and your loved ones.

- Matthew

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