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Personal Information
Few Canadians are 'very confident' their personal data is safe with retailers, banks and governments
Canadian security executives echo consumers' concerns with only one-third
"very confident" in their organization's ability to protect customer
information
TORONTO - Only seven per cent of Canadians say they are very confident in the ability of Canadian retailers, governments and banks to protect their personal information, a new national survey by CA Canada, a leading enterprise software company, has revealed.
Of the three types of organizations, Canadian retailers fared the worst,
with less than one per cent (O.5 per cent) of consumers saying they are very
confident retailers can protect their customers' on-line personal and private
information.
Canada's "Big Banks" also performed poorly, with only nine per cent of
Canadians reporting they are very confident that large financial institutions
can protect on-line customer information.
Though far from a ringing endorsement, federal and provincial governments
performed the best in the opinion of Canadians. Of those polled, 12 per cent
said they are very confident that Canadian governments can protect on-line
personal and private information.
According to the CA Canada 2008 Security and Privacy Survey, Canadian
security executives echoed consumers' concerns, with only 36 per cent of those
surveyed saying they are very confident in their organization's ability to
protect itself against losing customer or transaction data.
Additionally, the consumer survey indicated that 85 per cent of Canadian
consumers cite loss of trust and confidence, damage to reputation, and reduced
customer satisfaction as consequences of major security and privacy breaches
suffered by the business or government organizations that they deal with.
"Canadian businesses and governments that are managing consumer data and
information without robust data security are performing a high wire act
without a net," said Renee Lalonde, regional vice president, CA Canada. "All
it takes is one major security or privacy breach and the confidence and
satisfaction customers have in those organizations is severely compromised."
Personal information at large
As more personal information makes its way on-line, a growing number of
Canadians have fallen victim to theft of their personal information, like
their Social Insurance Number or credit card information. Of those polled,
14 per cent said they have experienced personal information theft and nearly
half (44 per cent) said they know someone who has had their personal
information stolen.
Spending on data security
The CA Canada survey also revealed that a significant majority of
consumers feel that businesses and governments do not spend enough on
improving on-line security and privacy:
<<
- 84 per cent think retailers do not spend enough on on-line security
and privacy.
- 67 per cent think the governments do not spend enough on on-line
security and privacy.
- 62 per cent think major financial institutions do not spend enough on
on-line security and privacy.
>>
Interestingly, four in ten (39 per cent) of Canadian security executives
agree that the percentage of their company's IT budget invested in security is
too low.
Security attacks continue to increase
Canadians' concerns about the privacy and security of their data are not
unfounded. There has been significant growth in the number of organizations
suffering known security attacks over the past five years. More than 86 per
cent of large Canadian organizations surveyed have suffered an identified
security attack over the past 12 months compared to only 67 per cent in 2003.
Of particular concern is the finding that internal security breaches,
those that come from within the organization, have seen the most dramatic
rise, from less than 5 per cent of Canadian organizations reporting them in
2003 to 33 per cent of large Canadian organizations identifying them over the
past 12 months - a six-fold increase.
About the 2008 CA Canada Security and Privacy Survey
This survey was commissioned by CA Canada as a follow-up to the 2006 CA
Canada Security Survey.
A total of 200 telephone and on-line surveys were conducted among a
random sample of large Canadian firms/organizations. Those interviewed
included Chief Security Officers, Chief Information Officers, Chief Technology
officers and other senior executives responsible for IT security. All surveys
were completed during the period March-April 2008 by The Strategic Counsel on
behalf of CA Canada. Margin of error is plus/minus 4.5%, at a confidence level
of 95%.
For the consumer portion of the study, a total of 400 telephone surveys
were conducted among a random sample of the Canadian general population aged
18-65. All surveys were completed during April 2008 by The Strategic Counsel.
Margin of error is plus/minus 4.9%, at a confidence level of 95%.
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