According to a survey of 605 adults who shop online, only one-third of respondents believe that most websites are safe for shopping, an 11% drop from a similar survey conducted in 2009. A full 84% of respondents have some level of concern when providing personal information online.
“The key message here is that consumer confidence in online retailing has fallen”, said Sam Rastogi, senior product marketing manager of McAfee's Web Security Group.
“There is a lot of awareness that the internet is not secure today. There is uncertainty when consumers are shopping online. The hacking incidents reported in the media are certainly contributing to that anxiety”, Rastogi told Infosecurity.
However, the survey found that many online consumers would override their security concerns if they felt that they were receiving a substantial price discount. Despite their security concerns, four in 10 consumers admitted to having purchased from sites where they were unsure about the security of their personal information. In those cases, a discount in the 11% to 30% range is what drove them to make a purchase.
The survey also uncovered that consumer confidence in trustmarks is increasing. A trustmark is an image or logo on e-commerce websites that indicate the site is a member of a professional organization or that it has passed detailed security tests.
A full 75% of online consumers indicate they would choose a site with a trustmark over a site without one; about one-third would choose a small independent site with a trustmark over a larger well-known site when making a purchase; nearly four in 10 indicate they might spend more money online if they had a guarantee of security; and about one-third indicate that they might spend an additional 25% or more.
“There is a tremendous amount of fear and uncertainty for consumers. They are looking at trustmarks to reassure them that the website is safe”, Rastogi observed.
Rastogi noted that McAfee provides its SECURE trustmark service to over 80,000 online merchants. For the service, McAfee conducts daily network perimeter scanning, testing for more than 40,000 network and Web application vulnerabilities, security testing to ensure protection against malware, and business practice reviews for Web site owners and online retailers, he said.