Majority of consumers expect their data to be compromised in 2016

The series of high-profile data breaches we witnessed last year has left a mark on the way consumers perceive online business, a new research from NCC Group and IDG Research Services shows.

According to the research, entitled Trust in the Internet 2016, 63 percent of consumers expect their data to be compromised this year, and 60 percent are now worried, more than ever, about protecting their data on the Internet.

The poll questioned 10,000 consumers in the UK and the US about online habits and security.

Rob Cotton, CEO at NCC Group says this is a wake-up call for global business, as consumers have lost faith on businesses’ ability to keep their data safe. "This should set alarm bells ringing not just in the IT and marketing departments, but in the boardroom too as it is ultimately the responsibility of a company’s executives", he said.

"In the years to come the fight for customer trust is going to be won by brands that clearly show that the security of customer data is of paramount importance. It’s one of the many ways that cyber security can have a genuine impact on a company’s bottom line. It’s up to the board to decide whether they want that impact to be positive or negative".

The survey also suggests a few interesting solutions: 87 percent of respondents said a secure community of safe internet websites is needed, and exactly half said they’d feel better if a business communicated what it does to keep the data safe.

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