A survey of 1,200 Irish adults has show that one in three do not trust online transactions. The survey, carried out by Behaviour and Attitudes and commissioned by CA, reveals Irish adults were highly concerned about online transactions – and as many as a quarter of all of those who transact online had at some time withdrawn from a transaction due to fears over security.
There is a high level of awareness about identity theft among the Internet user community in Ireland, with 75% of respondents saying they are aware of identity theft, though largely through hearing about it via word-of-mouth.
The survey reveals that, for every person whose identity has been compromised online, seven others will hear about it by word-of-mouth.
This goes some way to explaining the finding that only 17% of Irish internet users believe that the companies and banks they transact with online are currently doing enough to protect them from personal identity theft. Among this group, 40% don’t know if these companies are doing anything to protect their identity.
The survey did indicate however, that Irish consumers trust medical institutions and banks most to protect their personal details, followed by the government and credit card companies.
Worryingly though, for Irish companies that rely on online retail, the least trusted segments are online retailers and internet service providers, with a third of online customers having serious concerns about them.
Sean O’Connell, IT security consultant at CA Ireland commented, “We estimate that over €1 billion is spent by Irish adults on internet transactions per annum. We know from this survey that 1.15 million Irish people transact on the Internet, which means that the average spend per person is around EUR1,000 each year on the Internet. Given this and the fact that we know that 10% of all Internet transactions are aborted due to these concerns, we can conclude that around €250 million in revenue is lost to internet business each year because of Irish consumer fears about the security of their personal information online.”
The research highlights the lack of effective communications by Irish organisations about measures taken to minimise the threat of identity theft. O’Connell explained, “Many Irish companies seem to be happy to hide behind a cloak of ‘security through obscurity’. This makes little sense. Consumers are demanding better industry-accepted protection and online retailers must be seen to be active in their protection of consumer data. They need to adhere to recognised international standards and react quickly when incidents occur. If consumers don’t feel that they’re being adequately protected, they will choose to do business elsewhere.”
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