Nine in 10 Brits worried about security of personal information online, but 42% don’t use protection software
Nine out of 10 Brits are worried about personal details being available publicly online, with 92 per cent concerned about fraudsters illegally obtaining their financial information, research from Affinion International has found.
Over 2,000 consumers were polled, with 13 per cent admitting they do nothing whatsoever to protect their information while online, rising to 26 per cent of 18-24s. It was also discovered that 42 per cent do not use any form of online protection software, leaving themselves vulnerable to online criminal threats including phishing, key logging and screen capture malware.
Brits have the highest security fears when paying with a card or an account where information is stored on a mobile phone, Affinion International discovered.
Paying with cards over the phone and internet and contactless cards were also deemed as a high worry, with respondents preferring to put their trust in PayPal as the method scoring highest on safety.
Over the past year, three quarters (76.3 per cent) of consumers said they have paid for goods and services with a debit card online, but almost as many now use PayPal (75.4 per cent), which they see as more secure than using a chip and PIN card in person and online accounts such as iTunes and Amazon.
Giles Desforges, Affinion International’s senior vice president for northern Europe said: “With 96 per cent of consumers using the internet daily and a quarter buying goods online at least once a week, Brits are worried about the security of their personal and financial information online.
“A concerning 42 per cent of consumers are not using online protection software, leaving themselves open to the latest online criminal threats. It’s clear that consumers need to take greater steps to protect their increasing digital footprint. When consumers are short of time and lack knowledge on protection packages they may not take proactive action, despite high security concerns. There’s an opportunity for trusted brands to meet consumer need and add value to their customers by offering easy to use products that provide online protection across the multiple devices we use to access the internet daily.”
The survey was carried out as part of the Credit Management & Data Security report.