A Survey Shows How Fears of ID Theft Undermine Web Transactions

A survey of consumers released today reveals that while most say they are more informed about identity theft, they feel no safer from it than they did a year ago, and more consumers are reluctant to give online retailers personal data than was the case last year. The survey of more than 1,000 consumers was the second in as many years sponsored by RSA Security Inc. Its results also revealed that consumers expose themselves to identity theft with the way they manage passwords and personal identification numbers. As a result of these survey findings, RSA warns that fears of identity theft are undermining years of efforts by financial-services firms, retailers, and other businesses to shift consumer transactions to the Internet. The company, which markets authentication software, calls for replacement of passwords and PINs in securing sensitive personal information with more reliable forms of authentication of identity. Perhaps the most glaring result of the survey for financial-services companies and merchants was that while 63% of consumers said they are more aware of identity theft than they were a year ago, 49% of these more-aware respondents feel no safer against the problem. A further 26% of this group feel less safe, while only 18% feel more secure. Of this latter group, only 30% attributed their feelings of increased security to improved technology or security policies at banks. At the same time, the number of respondents who said they were “reluctant” to enter personal information online with merchants increased to 44% from 35% a year ago. “Awareness of identity theft is certainly the first step, but businesses clearly have a long way to go if they want consumers to feel protected,” says John Worrall, vice president of worldwide marketing for RSA in a statement. The survey shows consumers may be bringing on some identity-theft woes themselves through poor management of passwords and PINs. It reveals that 63% use fewer than five passwords for access to all electronic stores of sensitive information, and 15% use a single password for all access. The nine-question survey of 1,022 adults was conducted by phone Jan. 29 to Feb. 1 by Opinion Research Corp. Its margin of error is plus or minus 3%. The survey was released during a conference in San Francisco sponsored by RSA.