A research from cybersecurity firm F5 revealed that 96% of users in the Asia Pacific would prefer to choose convenience or seamless application experiences over data security. The research report “Curve of Convenience 2020 Report: The Privacy-Convenience Paradox” stated that 43% of consumers expect businesses to protect their information, and 32% believe it is the government’s responsibility.
The report stressed that businesses should involve consumers in their security processes to curb cyberthreats. If users are provided with the right information, they will be more vigilant when sharing their sensitive information.
Research Highlights
- Most Asia Pacific consumers assign security responsibilities to businesses and governments. Only 25% of respondents believe it is the users’ responsibility to protect their own data.
- 69% of users, on average, are choosing to give up their privacy to gain better experiences. Respondents from China (82%), India (79%) and Indonesia (79%) are most willing to share their data, with respondents from Japan (43%), Australia (50%), and Singapore (58%) being the least likely to trade data for more seamless experiences.
- Over a quarter of users are unaware of breaches. 27% of respondents indicated that they were not even aware of the breaches despite hacks that affected government bodies or high-use applications.
- Today’s users frequently choose frictionless experiences over security, but they still expect the organizations to safeguard their data. Only 4 % of respondents stopped using an application as a result of a breach, however, their trust in an organization’s abilities to protect their data is waning across the board—with social media companies witnessing the steepest drop in trust by 19 percentage points.
Adam Judd, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific, China, and Japan, at F5, said, “To truly integrate convenience and security, businesses should proactively involve consumers across the development of the applications, not only at the end. This is especially the case in an age where both application consumption and security vulnerabilities are multiplying by the day. Partnering with consumers means that the industry can thrive, and businesses, together with their digital partners, can create better solutions that deliver seamless yet secure experiences, any time, all the time. Ultimately, showing users what’s at stake will help them feel that they should be invested in their own protection.”
Online banking, entertainment, shopping, and food delivery applications have become primary means of accessing goods and services amid the pandemic and remote working. It is a critical time for businesses to stay vigilant and secure their customer and organizational data.
