After reading the breach letter and Module 11’s slides on economic theories, I think the following four theories relate well to the letter.

The first theory I chose was Neutralization Theory, a social science theory. Regarding the breach, some people might downplay potential risks, or maybe rationalize data intrusions as a common thing to happen. I believe this could explain why when receiving the breach letter some people might delay taking immediate actions like contacting their credit card company.

Another theory that I believe works well in alignment with the breach letter is Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory. This theory touches on the frequent emotional responses to the environment based on “sensitivities to rewarding or punishing stimuli”. Individuals with a heightened sensitivity to potential harm might react very fast to the breach with immediate steps to protect themselves. However, other people who are more used to rewarding stimuli might focus on the positive outcomes of reporting and addressing the breach.

As for economic theories we touched on this module I first chose Classical Economic Theory. In the breach letter, the information about individuals willingly provided to companies is part of the supply and demand formula. From this perspective, I feel like the willingness of customers who provide information to companies, especially even in the face of something like a breach, may be seen as a natural part of the supply and demand of economics.

The last theory I chose was the economic theory of Marxian Economic Theory. I learned through this theory that those with economic power may exploit more vulnerable people who dont necessarily have the same means. In the context of the breach, individuals with less economic power may indeed be more of a risk to cyber threats, being easy targets for things like identity theft or financial fraud. Think about how larger corporations have very big and robust cybersecurity measures in place, however maybe start ups, or normal everyday people have nothing to stand in the way to protect them.