Vercara, a leading provider of cloud-based services that secure the online experience, today announced the results of its second-annual Consumer Trust & Risk Report. The survey found that breaches in 2024 had less impact on consumers’ trust in brands compared to the previous year (a 6.5% decrease from 62% in 2023 to 58% in 2024), and that most consumers remain unaware of the role they may play in cyber incidents. The research reveals that consumers are unaware of the impact of insider threats, and instead assume bad actors are to blame for most attacks.
“On the surface, an increase in consumer trust in brands seems positive, but this is perhaps the result of fatigue – or worse, apathy – as breaches continue to occur at a rapid rate,” said Carlos Morales, SVP and GM – DDoS and AppSec at Vercara. “We cannot underestimate the power their trust has on a brand’s bottom line, as the more data breaches a company suffers, the more likely they are to lose customers.”
Impact of breaches
Vercara’s research found that over half (58%) of consumers believe that brands that get hit with a data breach are not trustworthy, and 70% would stop shopping with a brand that suffered a security incident. Generation Z is the most likely to be unfazed by security incidents, whereas Baby Boomers are most likely to shift their shopping habits.
“While it’s not surprising that younger generations who grew up interacting with brands online are more comfortable with the associated risks, there is still work to be done building trust with consumers,” said Morales. “In addition to brands ensuring internal security measures are up to date, we must set consumers up for success through guardrails and education to protect sensitive data. Minimizing the risk of data breaches truly requires participation from both organizations and consumers.”
Consumers’ role in cyber defense
One-third (30%) of consumers report having their data exposed after shopping online. Survey respondents believe that the top four causes of breaches are:
- Bad actors hacking into a company’s system – 36% (with 67% of Generation Z holding this belief)
- A company having extremely poor security measures – 33%
- Bad actors breaking into physical offices – 8%
- Insider threats – 5%
While insider threats ranked last on this list, in reality, human error is the cause of most sensitive data loss. Generation Z reported the greatest awareness of insider threats as a cause of data breaches of all age groups.
Additionally, 21% of consumers report that they use the same passwords across work and online shopping accounts and that 57% are comfortable using their work devices for personal shopping, doing so regularly, which opens companies to even more risk.
Ensuring a safe holiday shopping season
Heading into the holiday shopping season where there will be an increase in consumers sharing sensitive data online, it’s critical that organizations take a proactive approach to potential cybersecurity incidents, as only 1% of enterprises report the ability to respond extremely quickly to security incidents according to DigiCert’s State of Digital Trust Report. In the event of a breach, consumers said the number one thing brands can do to rebuild trust is to detail the measures the company will take to prevent a future attack (as 44% of consumers cite multiple breaches as the most likely reason they would stop trusting a company).
Methodology
In partnership with Dynata, Vercara conducted a consumer survey on trust in brands following data breaches, targeting 1,000 adults across the United States, age 18+, during November 2024 and compared them to findings from November 2023. Additionally in November 2024, a survey using the same methodology polled consumer shopping habits on company devices. Figures for age, gender, education, income, employment and region were weighted to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate, no estimates of sampling error can be calculated. All data, unless specified otherwise, is pulled from these surveys.
About Vercara
Vercara, a DigiCert company, is a purpose-built, global, cloud-based security platform that provides layers of protection to safeguard businesses’ online presence, no matter where attacks originate or where they are aimed. Delivering the industry’s highest-performing solutions and supported by unparalleled 24/7 human expertise and hands-on guidance, top global brands depend on Vercara to protect their networks and applications against threats and downtime. Vercara’s suite of cloud-based services is secure, reliable, and available, delivering peace of mind and ensuring that businesses and their customers experience exceptional interactions all day, every day. Pressure-tested in the world’s most tightly regulated and high-traffic verticals, Vercara’s mission-critical security portfolio provides best-in-class DNS and application and network security (including DDoS and WAF) services to its Global 5000 customers and beyond. For more information, visit vercara.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241212420293/en/