Thales Survey: 84 percent of Brits reconsider brands affected by data breaches

Today Thales announced the results of its survey into attitudes towards organisations that have experienced data breaches.

The survey showed that 84 percent of respondents would reduce or eliminate the use of an organisation's products or services following breaches, and only 16 percent of respondents would continue to use an organisation's products or services as usual.

Respondents were asked: “If you found out an organisation whose products or services you use had multiple data breaches, which of the following best describes how you would react?”

16 percent – I would continue to use their products or services as usual

27 percent – I would limit my usage of their products or services

37 percent – I would only use their products or services if I had no alternatives

20 percent – I would stop using their products or services completely

“It's important for firms to recognise just how much of their customer base might be lost in the wake of breach incidents,” said Sol Cates, vice president of technology strategy at Thales e-Security. “With more than half of respondents saying that they would either immediately stop using an organisation's products or services altogether, or use them only if they have no other choice, effective security controls specifically placed around data to prevent and minimise damage from data breaches become an absolute requirement.”

The survey also questioned respondents on what they would be most concerned about following a breach of their personal information. The results showed that theft of money from bank accounts was the primary concern, second to identity theft.

“If your personal information were stolen in a data breach of an organisation you do business with, which of the following would you be most concerned about?”

46 percent – Money being stolen from my bank account

38 percent – My identity being stolen

9 percent – My account login information being stolen

7 percent – Receiving more spam emails

“The theft of money from someone's bank account as the result of a breach is a very tangible fear, but realistically it is much less likely than other outcomes,” continued Cates. “The implications of identity theft should pose far more of a concern, as they can be extremely painful and long lasting, with clean-up from incidents taking months or even years, and having long term effects on using and obtaining credit when it is really needed. Once your data is ‘in the wild', your life is never the same.”