Millennials have lost faith in data security practices following recent high profile hacks
High profile hacks such as the Ashley Madison case have destroyed confidence among millennials that their online identities are safe
The Ashley Madison hack is the latest high profile data breach and, according to recent research, has left 95 per cent of millennials fearing that their digital identity is not safe.
Digital identity firm Intercede conducted a survey of 16-35 year-olds across the UK and US to determine the impact that these hacks and data leaks have had on how confident people feel about the security of their online identity.
The results found that 95 per cent of the generation responsible for the future economy believe their digital identities are not completely protected by appropriate and effective security measures. The report also looked at people’s perceptions of how security will change over time and 70 per cent admitted that they feared the risk to their online privacy would increase as we become more digitally connected.
Over half - 54 per cent - of the 2000 people surveyed claimed that the failure of businesses and governments to implement better online security measures will result in public distrust of goods and services. These findings will serve as a stark warning to businesses that will now need to place more emphasis on their advertising strategies with regards to security.
Lubna Dajani, a communications technology expert and futurist, said that personal information is “a form of currency” and businesses and governments should “urgently review current security protocols, or risk the potential to drive innovation and growth”.
Intercede CEO, Richard Parris, believed that the “humble password should be consigned to the dusty digital archives where it belongs” and said that companies need to look to stronger authentication techniques to ensure the future of digital commerce and information exchange and their own competitive edge.”
High profile hacks such as that reported on the affairs website Ashley Madison have led to a heightened sense of threat online and left lingering trust issues which brands must quickly brush aside. The prominence of hacks and the wide spread reporting of them may help push government and businesses to create more robust security measurements, those who don’t are likely to lose users amid the growing concern of data security.