• Despite efforts to extend the lifecycle of electronics equipment, e-waste is the fastest growing source of municipal waste on Earth. The global problem is compounded by ever-shortening amounts of time that people utilize electronics before buying new.
  
  — CNN
  
  
• Environmental groups calculate that as much as 80% of the estimated 400,000 tons of electronics waste collected for recycling in the U.S. each year ends up in Asia and Africa, where unprotected workers and others are exposed to toxic chemicals.
  
  — Chicago Tribune
  
  
• About 38% of corporations now say they take environmental concerns into account when making purchasing decisions.
  
  — Forrester Research
  
  
• One third of the cases brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission during the 2007 fiscal year regarded companies that did not provide correct disclosures in their financial statements. The SEC reportedly filed 14% more enforcement cases in the recently ended fiscal period.
  
  — CFO
  
  
• Security breaches compromised more than 79 million records in the U.S. during 2007.
  
  — Identity Theft Resource Center
  
  
• Data breach incidents cost companies $197 per compromised customer record in 2007, compared to $182 in 2006. Lost business opportunities, including losses associated with customer churn and acquisition, represented the most significant component of the cost increase, rising from $98 in 2006 to $128 in 2007, and representing a 30% increase.
  
  — Ponemon Institute-Vontu Survey 2007 Annual Study: Cost of a Data Breach
  
  
• Small and mid-size businesses plan to invest 60% more on IT security related to vulnerability assessments and preventing leakage of confidential data during 2008.
  
  — Astaro Corp. Global Survey
  
  
• Only one in 10 organizations adequately protects sensitive data.
  
  — IT Policy Compliance Group
  
  
• Most travelers store an average of $525,000 worth of sensitive data on their laptop computers.
  
  — iBahn Survey
  
  
• 75% of obsolete electronics currently are being stored.
  
  — The Institute for Local Self-Reliance
  
  
• Up to 28 million refurbished PCs will be sold this year, making up 10% of the global PC market.
  
  — Microsoft
  
  
• Recycling electronics consumes 20 times more energy than reuse.
  
  — United Nations University Study
  
  
• E-waste is growing three times faster than other waste and will reach an annual global volume of 40 million tons by the end of 2008.
  
  — The European Environmental Agency
  
  
• Awareness that e-waste poses a threat to the environment increased significantly in 2007, as did legislation reflecting this trend. Several states, including Connecticut, Oregon, Texas, North Carolina and Minnesota, passed electronics recycling laws during the past year.
  
  — Pew Research Center
  
  
• 80% of business executives consider green IT to be growing in importance for their organization, while 43% say they consider a vendor's "greenness" when selecting their suppliers.
  
  — IDC
  
  
• Companies that pass regulatory audits such as those for the Sarbanes-Oxley Act also keep their data more secure.
  
  — IT Policy Compliance Group
  
  
• 60% of IT security professionals say they devote at least 25% of their time to regulatory compliance efforts, while 15% of respondents said they spend 76% to 100% of their time on compliance issues.
  
  — nCircle Survey
  
  
• A total of 77% of business executives said they expect corporate responsibility initiatives to have a major impact on their business strategies during the next several years.
  
  — Environmental Leader
  
  

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