IN ASSOCIATION WITH

 Home -   Events -   Training 

E-shoppers not worried about security: survey
07-12-2006
by Aoife Carr

Gifts arriving on time is the biggest worry among online shoppers this Christmas, according to a new survey.

The survey, conducted by web and desktop security software provider Websense, questioned more than 1,000 people in three of the major shopping capitals in Europe -- London, Paris and Milan.

It found that while 75 percent of those surveyed were not confident about being able to identify a secure website, only one in four cited keeping their credit card and online banking information safe as their greatest concern.

Thirty-nine percent, said their biggest worry about shopping online was whether their purchases would actually arrive on time for Christmas. Getting a bargain was cited by 36 percent to be the overriding factor in deciding which website to make a purchase from.

Of those surveyed, 35 percent admitted to not always checking for the security padlock, with almost one fifth (18 percent) unaware of what to look for.

More women (80 percent) than men (70 percent) were not confident about their ability to spot a secure website. A further 17 percent were totally oblivious to current security threats, believing Christmas shopping online to be completely safe and secure. Interestingly, only 30 percent of those surveyed said they trust their antivirus software to protect their personal and banking details.

A high proportion of respondents (83 percent) said they used both their work PC as well as their home computer for online shopping, with a third doing their shopping at work.

"Online shopping at Christmas is a balancing act for consumers," said Mark Murtagh, Websense technical director. "This is a time of year where people are so busy that they can overlook potential web security risks in the hunt for the perfect bargain," he added.

Meanwhile, Irish shoppers are expected to spend as much as EUR75 million on online shopping during the first week of December as the build-up to Christmas gets underway, according to the Sunday Times. This figure is significantly up on last year's tally of EUR55 million.