Data breaches are unfortunate events for any business. Apart from financial damage and heavy fines, data breaches also cause a severe impact on employees’ and customers’ data. According to a new research from OpSec Security, 48% of consumers globally expect to be hit by a data breach in the future, while 30% said they have already suffered a data breach attack once – an increase of 7% compared to 2019. The research also found that 46% of data breach victims have been contacted by brands about their data being compromised two to five times. This resulted in 55% of consumers to believe that companies are not doing enough to protect their personal information.
With cyberattacks on e-commerce businesses increase in scale, consumers are concerned about using their debit/credit cards online. Over 47% of consumers are worried about paying online due to fear of personal information theft (62%), scammers stealing their money (58%), and identity theft (57%).
Bill Birnie, SVP and GM of OpSec Security’s Online Division, said, “The frequency which data breaches are occurring is leaving many consumers desensitized. In fact, our research found 30% of those who have been the victim of a data breach were unsurprised when they found out about it. However, this desensitization is often also paired with the expectation that organizations will have the protections in place to safeguard personal data and credit card details, and that the consumer will be reimbursed for any resulting monetary losses. Despite this, large-scale data breaches are continuing to damage brands, as 64% of victims have lost trust in the company or brand that lost their data.”
“As many consumers now run much of their lives online following the impact of COVID-19, businesses must be more proactive about cybersecurity and online consumer protection than ever, with solutions in place to stop these threats in their tracks. Failing to do so can be extremely costly not only in terms of compliance with data management regulations, but also by customer loss. 28% of consumers who have lost trust in a company due to data breaches say they won’t shop with the brand again,” Birnie added.
