'Digital Trust Barometer' Is Falling

SAN FRANCISCO -- RSA Conference 2008 -- More than half of consumers are worried that their account data will be stolen when they bank online, according to a new study published here today.

The study, conducted by TNS Sofres and dubbed the "Digital Trust Barometer," was sponsored by Gemalto, a specialist in token-based authentication technology.

According to the research, 57 percent of Americans are afraid someone will steal account passwords when banking online, and 38 percent do not trust online payments.

Only 22 percent felt "very good" about the security in any of the digital technology they use, according to the study of 1,000 U.S. consumers. Identity theft topped the list of their fears at 74 percent, and 44 percent were afraid of online bank account hijacking. Some 21 percent of respondents had already suffered from bank data theft.

Forty percent of Americans declared they would purchase more online if security was reinforced, and 49 percent would visit new merchant Websites. Eighty-seven percent said being at a well known Website is reassuring when paying online, but 44 percent of Americans are worried when they purchase with their credit cards online.

Asked whom they trust as a source of reliable information on digital security, 42 percent of respondents believed friends and family are the most reliable source for security advice. After relatives, 27 percent of Americans considered companies specialized in digital security as an accurate and reliable source of information. Banks, at 7.6 percent, were a distant third as a trusted information source.

— Tim Wilson, Site Editor, Dark Reading