Watchfire expressed surprise that only 50 percent of consumers do online banking today, according to a Privacy Trust Survey for Online Banking study of 2,328 consumers released recently (conducted by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by Watchfire).
What surprises me is that 50 percent of consumers ARE doing online banking, seeing as 57 percent of consumers say they would cease all online services with their current bank in the event of a single privacy breach.
A banking site can have bullet proof security, but phishers can trick their customers into giving up accounts and passwords by sending legitimate-looking e-mails asking consumers to follow a link because something’s wrong with their accounts. (Phishing e-mails are successful 5 percent of the time, according to that AntiPhishing Working Group).
Or, worse, phishers are loading account and password harvesting software (spyware to log keystrokes) onto victim?s PCs through compromised Web sites and e-mail preview panes – meaning victims don’t have to follow a link or click a malicious program for this to happen.
As I wrote in my Security Chief column for Network World’s Network Life (April 11), it’s all about perception. And after writing two stories on phishing, one on identity theft (for Better Homes and Gardens) and a security awareness course on identity theft and phishing for the Security Awareness School, I?m more convinced than ever that online banking is in trouble.
Here’s the rest of the survey findings:
*Identity theft ranks as the biggest concern in the event of a breach or violation of personal information.
* 81% of consumers rank the privacy of their personal information as very important or important.
* Consumers with a higher trust in their bank?s privacy commitments are more likely to engage in online banking activities (including more complex and more profitable transactions).
* Consumers with a high level of trust in their primary bank are loyal?they aren’t seeking services from other institutions, with 55% stating they have never even visited another bank?s website?however, the higher the pedestal the higher the fall.
