Barely a week goes by these days without news of laptops stolen or lost, and loaded with data that can expose employees, consumers or patients to identity theft. For companies involved, data breaches harm more than a corporate image. According to research from the Ponemon Institute, a research firm focusing on privacy and data protection practices, data breaches cost companies $182 per record lost. An FBI survey pegged losses due to data breaches at $67.2 billion in 2006. And it’s not just companies handling personal data, such as Social Security numbers or medical information, bearing the costs. That’s why security experts already see a shift in security policies underway, with more to come this year.