Most online shoppers say they'll take their business elsewhere if they find out their personal information was compromised, according to a survey of U.S. Internet users. The results of the study show that consumers are aware of identity theft and that companies are likely to lose business if they fail to handle customer information securely.

Two-thirds of adults with Internet connectivity who participated in the survey expect to shop online this holiday season, with 14% of them planning to do half or more of their holiday shopping online. But 67% of Internet users who were part of the study said they were likely to stop shopping at an online store if they found out that their personal information was compromised.

Half of the respondents said they were likely to switch financial institutions if they found out that their personal data stored by the bank had been compromised.

An increasing awareness of identity theft may be driving these Internet users to say they'll change their behavior if their personal information is threatened. Thirty-four percent of those surveyed said they'd either been a victim of identity theft or they know someone who has been a victim. Eighty-three percent said they think people are more likely to become victims of identity fraud around the holidays.

The study was commissioned by Sun and carried out by Harris Interactive. More than 2,000 adults across the U.S. took part in the study.

Sun warned that consumers should be careful when releasing information such as Social Security Numbers and said that companies need to mitigate the risk of identity threat by employing security mechanisms.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.