Consumers have little confidence
A study shows: A majority of consumers would not do business with the responsible company after a data protection incident.
According to a survey commissioned by Gemaltothe world's leading digital security company. Survey among more than 10,000 end users worldwide, the majority (70%) would not do any further business with an organization if it became aware of a data breach. In addition, seven in ten consumers (69%) believe that companies do not take the security of customer data very seriously.
Negligent consumers
Despite these concerns, the study found that consumers are not securing themselves sufficiently, with more than half (56%) still using the same password for multiple online accounts. Even when companies offer robust security solutions like two-factor authentication, two-fifths (41%) of users admit they don't use the technology to secure accounts on social networks, leaving them vulnerable to data breaches there.
A large proportion of users (62%) believe that companies should be responsible for the security of data. This obliges organizations to take additional measures to protect consumers and enforce robust security measures. In addition, consumers must be educated on the benefits of implementing these measures. So retailers (61%), banks (59%), and social networks (58%) have a lot of work to do, as these are industries where consumers would switch providers if they were victims of a data breach.
Responsibility is "delegated
"Consumers seem happy to hand over responsibility for protecting their data to a company, but expect it to be kept safe without any hassle," said Jason Hart, of Gemalto. "With upcoming legal changes, such as the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), it is incumbent on companies to provide users with the right security mechanisms to ensure data security. It is no longer enough to offer these solutions as an option. These protocols must be mandatory from the outset - otherwise companies face not only financial consequences, but also legal action from consumers."
Despite their behavior, consumers' security concerns are high, as two-thirds (67%) fear that they will become victims of a data breach in the near future. Thus, users find that the responsibility lies with the company - if their data were stolen, the majority (93%) of consumers would take or consider taking legal action against the compromised company.
Consumers trust some industries more than others
When it comes to the sectors consumers trust least, more than half (58%) believe social networks pose one of the biggest threats to their data. Meanwhile, 20% are afraid of travel websites - worryingly, 9% of respondents believe that no websites pose a risk to them.
On the other hand, one-third (33%) of consumers trust banks the most with their personal data, even though they are often targeted and are victims of data breaches. They are followed by industry-certified entities (12%), device manufacturers (11%) and government bodies (10%).
Hart goes on to say, "It is astonishing that consumers are putting their own data at risk by failing to apply potential measures despite growing security concerns. This is leading to an alarming number of breaches -. 80% - caused by weak or previously stolen credentials. Something needs to change soon on both the business and consumer sides, otherwise there is no improvement in sight."
