The View From The United States

The View From The United States:

Americans View On Security

As you all know, I am a proponent for the customer, especially when it comes to Biometrics. Even in my own tech writing business, I try to deliver the best quality information I can to my readers and subscribers, even through this blog site. But, what do customers, especially us Americans really feel about security? No better way than to ask them is question directly.

A major security vendor known as “Unisys” just announced the results from a bi yearly poll they conduct. This particular piece of research is known as the “Unisys Security Index”, and in it, some 1,000+ American consumers were asked about their thoughts and views about security, and even Biometrics. Here are some of the key findings:

*Almost 75% claim they would stop doing business with an organization if it experienced a major security breach (such as Identity Theft);

*In the event of a major security mishap (type of breach or geographic location was not mentioned):

-->87% would change their password;

-->76% would close down their actual account;

-->53% would take legal action;

*65% of the respondents would publicly expose a corporation if they knew a security breach was taking place;

*With regards to the use of Biometrics as a security measure:

-->60% said they would use it airports;

-->76% they would use Biometrics for conducting online and financial transactions (when it comes to their bank, financial institution, etc.)

-->53% would use it for claiming government entitlements and benefits;

*In terms of overseas, this same study was conducted in the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Brazil. Respectively, 82% said they would close down their accounts; 62% would publicly disclose the issue; and 86% claimed they would take some legal action.

*The results of this survey follow the support the overall trend that Identity Theft, in general, is a major concern;

*21.3% of the respondents said that they would use Biometrics for securing their identity on Social Media sites, like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. This finding strongly correlates the thesis made in the white paper I talked about in yesterday’s posting, in which there seems to be a strong disconnect between of the effects of Biometrics on Social Media.

In my view, I think the last finding shows that there might be something unearthing about the trend of Biometrics with Social Media. True, there have been many findings and studies which show mixed results on the use of Biometrics, but this is one distinct, negative trend that I am noticing.

I am sure that there will be much more research done on this topic into the future, as Social Media sites continue to explode, and people keep getting concerned about Security. And, I for one, even plan to do my own research on this negative correlation, and perhaps, even come up with my own white paper. Stay tuned for more!!!