There is a significant lack of trust among the general public about how well organisations can keep their private data safe, according to a recent opinion survey
An increasing number of high profile data breaches has significantly eroded the public’s trust in how organisation’s handle their data, according to a public opinion survey.
Data management organisation LogRhythm released a report showing the shift in public perception, suggesting that an improvement in data security is necessary.
The report, based on a survey of 2,000 people in the UK, showed that nine out of ten expect drastic action to be taken against organisations that lose data.
Government organisations are only trusted by 25% of respondents, social networks by 19%.
An overwhelming 96% of the general public support legislation that forces companies to declare when they’ve lost customer data. In fact, most (69%) expect to be told immediately, even before the hack has been formally investigated.
Furthermore, most people (87%) said they would avoid having interactions with a company that has been the victim of a hack.
Customers expect companies who have become victims of a breach to improve their IT systems and to inform the media.
Public trust seems to vary across different industries. In terms of keeping their records safe, Gaming sites are trusted by only 4% of respondents.
Government organisations are only trusted by 25% of respondents, social networks by 19%.
“The high proportion of respondents in favour of universal and instant notification tells us a lot about the lack of trust that exists when it comes to organisations’ abilities to defend cyber attacks,” explained LogRhythm’s managing director Ross Brewer.
“When asked if organisations are doing enough to secure customer data, 81 per cent did not believe this was the case and that more needed to be done.”
Brewer said that these findings should make organisations realise that unless data security is improved they will lose customers and their reputation will be affected.
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