Orson Swindle has long been one of the nation’s most cogent advocates of the notion that industry self-regulation is the best way for American businesses to improve information security and privacy. A Republican appointee to the Federal Trade Commission by President Bill Clinton in 1997, Swindle used his seven-year term to promote the creation of a "culture of security" in which the government, businesses and consumers work together to improve security.

These days, however, Swindle is coming around to the idea that federal regulation—carefully crafted and keeping in mind the costs and benefits to affected businesses—may be necessary to protect American businesses and consumers. His experiences with the FTC have made him aware of the limitations in the country’s existing infrastructure to protect consumers against identity theft.

Swindle, 69, is now chairman of Security Initiatives for the Center for Information Policy Leadership at the law firm Hunton & Williams, and he is also a distinguished fellow at the Progress & Freedom Foundation, a think tank. He spoke with Sarah D. Scalet, a Senior Editor with CSO, our sister publication, about the challenges of improving information security and privacy.

CIO: What’s your perception of the state of information security today, and how close are we to creating this "culture of security" that you’ve envisioned?

Orson Swindle: We do have problems. I don’t think the problems are nearly as bad as they are perceived, and part of that has to do with how the media covers things. This past year we’ve had probably in excess of 100 disclosed breaches, but the jump from disclosed breaches to grievous harm having occurred is a huge one. You’ll hear "40 million credit cards compromised," but it’s a much smaller number than that—a very low number—where harm has actually occurred. Oftentimes a disclosure is an emotional thing. It causes people to overreact. But that is not to say we don’t have a problem.

It’s understandable that people would be upset when they hear about huge disclosures of information that are out of a private citizen’s hands.

Absolutely. I think there is reason to be concerned. I think consumers need to be always diligent in how they handle their own information. Perhaps of greater significance, those who are in the business of handling the information have to wake up to the reality.

How do we follow the path from when information is stolen, to the point maybe nine months from now when that breach results in identity theft or fraud?