> If you zeroed out all of the investors this type of mass compromise would immediately cease.
It absolutely would not. Yes we would see greater investment in cyber security and it would pay dividends, but the idea that we can totally eliminate data breaches if we just try really super hard is unrealistic.
This is absurd. There is a simple way to eliminate data breaches -- Don't keep data. Humans have been conducting businesses for thousands of years without the need to hoard large quantities of personal data.
If there was sufficient regulatory force to induce companies to make the choice between not hoarding data or not existing then I'm sure that business would carry on as it has for millennia.
It absolutely would not. Yes we would see greater investment in cyber security and it would pay dividends, but the idea that we can totally eliminate data breaches if we just try really super hard is unrealistic.