Byron Acohido

USA TODAY

SEATTLE — Today we commemorate Data Privacy Day here in the U.S., while Europe acknowledges Data Protection Day.

It couldn't be more timely. Trust in the Internet is crumbling, creating huge new business opportunities for tech security vendors — and complex challenges for governments.

A gargantuan global market for new technologies to lock down all the clever things we can now do in the Internet cloud, with our mobile devices, is rapidly taking shape. Last week, virtualization giant VMware announced it will spend $1.54 billion to acquire mobile devices security vendor AirWatch.

"It takes lots of work by the good guys, and just one breach by the bad guys to bring down a firm's pristine reputation," observes Sanjay Poonen, executive vice president at VMware. "Mobile security threats do exist, and we believe we have not seen the worst of them yet."

The underlying threats are worsening at a rapid pace. Some 67% of SMS text message scams tracked by messaging security firm Cloudmark in 2013 sought to lure U.S. victims with various financial offers, while phishing scams accounted for 20% of SMS spam aimed at Americans.

This suggests that the consumer data stolen from Target, Neiman Marcus and Michaels will be put to use aiding and abetting scams. Phone numbers associated with specific store purchases and specific bank cards make phishing ruses, deployed via mobile devices and social media sites, much more successful.

"Usually they will try to get you to call a phone number," says Cloudmark researcher Andrew Conway. "When you do, it will play a recording of the customer service line for that bank, so it sounds genuine. "

The scammers' end game: get you to make a bogus transaction and/or divulge other valuable personal information.

Our rush to work and recreate using services delivered from faceless vendors in the Internet cloud pushed out to our smartphones and touch tablets makes us acutely vulnerable.

"As people become more reliant on storing and sharing data with their mobile devices, these tech tools become more attractive targets for hackers," observes Anders Lofgren, product management vice president at data backup vendor Acronis. "What's worse is that mobile devices by nature are portable and small, making them even more vulnerable to being lost or stolen."

Better technology alone won't be enough to slow the erosion of trust in the Web. Government must step up.

California earlier this month did its part by amending its pioneering breach notification law, the model for similar laws in 45 other states. These local regs require companies to notify clients whose information gets stolen.

California as of Jan. 1 views online account information, such as usernames and e-mail addresses, the same as financial and medical information.

Meanwhile, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., recently reintroduced his data-privacy protection bill to Congress, hoping the fourth time will be a charm. Leahy has been striving for two years to federalize data-loss disclosure regulations, currently addressed in 46 different state laws. Thus far, pushback from private industry has stymied him.

This version of his bill would create a national data-loss disclosure standard and impose data-protection standards on businesses that collect and store sensitive personal information.

"These proposals certainly seem to be a step in the right direction says Richard Moulds, a vice president of product Strategy, Thales e-Security. "The spotlight will now rightly be on the nature and importance of the data that is lost."

Late last week, the White House announced a 90-day review of privacy issues surrounding public and private-sector uses of big data. The review should frame key policy questions and inform further government steps, says attorney Clarine Nardi Riddle, a government affairs expert at Kasowitz, Benson, Torres and Friedman.

"Data-privacy laws will be a hot topic on the state and federal level throughout the year," predicts Riddle.