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Ebay

Ebay, Home Depot et al warned of customer exodus following recent security lapses

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By John Glenday, Reporter

September 25, 2014 | 2 min read

Online auction house eBay and American retailer Home Depot are amongst a number of companies to be warned that they face losing up to 51 per cent of customers in the wake of public scepticism of their competence following a series of high-profile security breaches over recent months.

The poll, conducted by cloud control firm HyTrust, quizzed 2,000 people on whether the recent spate of breaches would cause them to look elsewhere with more than half saying that it would.

Anger at lax security procedures is mounting as the hackers routinely breach the site leading to down time and bogus listings to appear. This was reflected by the 46.5 per cent of respondents who said companies involved in such breaches should be declared ‘criminally negligent’.

A third of those polled also wanted senior management to be held to account over such lapses with most (46.5 per cent) blaming the companies as soon as a breach occurs. Just 12 per cent give them the benefit of the doubt until a second breach before condemning it.

Eric Chiu, president at HyTrust, commented: “There probably isn’t a single straw that broke the camel’s back—it’s just the sheer volume of stories about data breaches, many at companies that have developed a customer-friendly brand. What this poll shows is that companies are finally, and inevitably, being held to account for their security vulnerabilities.

“Consumers have options, and when there are endless stories about the loss of confidential information, they’re going to other vendors. Every security breach clearly has a direct impact on operations, but there’s now clear evidence that there’s extensive brand damage as well, and the executives involved will have to pay the price.”

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