News
VeriSign: Brits are Worth £360 Billion to Cyber Criminals
March 2008 by Emmanuelle Lamandé
UK Internet users are putting up to £361 billion1 at risk by sharing personal data on Web sites that are either not secure or poorly protected, according to a YouGov survey published today by VeriSign, Inc.
The pan-European survey on consumers’ attitudes to online security shows that the average UK consumer is worth £10,077 online. This figure is the total sum of monetary assets available in the average person’s online accounts, which could include banking, gaming and shopping accounts.
With 65 percent of respondents sharing personal information with their online bank each week, 58 percent with online retailers and 31 percent with social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, the ability of fraudsters to steal a customer’s details and money online has substantially increased. In addition, the personal data we all share – 75 percent of respondents freely giving away their date of birth, 70 percent their home address, and 68 percent their mother’s maiden name— puts us at risk of having our online identity stolen and used for real-world crime.
Jon Kerr, VeriSign SSL Manager, UK commented, “It’s no surprise that online banks and retailers are some of the most popular targets for identity theft since so many personal details are required by users. As online transactions increase, we need to acknowledge the importance of both technology and consumer behaviour in protecting personal details and monetary assets online. With the average UK consumer worth over £10,000 to criminals, it’s clear that each of us is a target.”
The findings also show there is already a high level of concern about online data security, with 78 percent of those surveyed worried about identity theft. The figures are not surprising when you consider nearly half of the respondents (43 percent) have experienced online identity fraud or know someone that has been a victim.
However, it’s not all bad news. Personal experience and consumer education campaigns have been successful in raising awareness of online security with a significant number of those surveyed aware of security symbols such as the padlock (69 percent) or a security mark like the VeriSign® Secured Seal (41 percent), which signify secure Web sites.
¹ This figure was derived by combining the average exposure level for UK citizens as researched by YOUGOV with the current adult Internet connected population of the UK - 32 million.
