Consumers increasingly aware of online security risks, but hold businesses responsible for data breaches, finds Gemalto study

• Published date: 17 January 2017
• Publication title: Arab News Service

17 January 2017 According to the 9,000 consumers surveyed in Australia, Benelux, France, Germany, Russia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, India, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States, 70% of the responsibility for protecting and securing customer data lies with companies and only 30% of the responsibility with themselves. Yet, less than a third (29%) consumers believe companies are taking protection of their personal data very seriously. This comes as consumers are becoming increasingly fearful of their data being stolen, with 58% believing it will happen to them in the future. More than 4.8 billion data records have been exposed since 2013 with identity theft being the leading type of data breach accounting for 64% of all data breaches1.

Where consumers see most risk

Despite becoming more aware of the threats posed to them online, only one in ten (11%) believe there are no apps or websites out there that pose the greatest risk to them and consumers are not changing behavior as a result:

80% use social media, despite 59% believing these networks pose a great risk

87% use online or mobile banking, with 34% believing they leave them vulnerable to cybercriminals

Consumers are also more likely to shop online during busy commercial periods such as Black Friday and Christmas (2% increase online versus -2% decrease in store), despite 21% admitting the threat of cybercrime increases a lot during these periods

Consumer attitudes on data breaches

Nearly six in ten (58%) consumers believe they will be a victim of a breach at some point, and organizations need to be prepared for the loss of business such incidents may cause. The majority of consumers who currently use the following, say they would stop using a retailer (60%), bank (58%) or social media site (56%) if it suffered a breach, while 66% say they would be unlikely to do business with an organization that experienced a breach where their financial and sensitive information was stolen.

How data breaches affect consumers

The study found that fraudulent use of financial information has affected 21% of consumers, with others experiencing fraudulent use of their personal details (15%) and identity theft (14%). More than a third (36%) of those who...