According to a study conducted by IT company Experian and its anti-identity fraud service ProtectMyID, 73% of respondents fear having their identity stolen when using personal banking websites. About two-thirds of the more than 1,000 US adults surveyed said they have that fear when shopping online.
Nearly 70% of respondents said they worry about their security while using public Wi-Fi, with a similar number expressing concern over accessing any type of online account.
Almost half of all survey respondents said they are taking more security precautions than they did previously to prevent identity theft. Still, the survey found, they are not taking some simple measures that can make a big difference to their security.
For instance, more than 50% do not check for an icon of a lock to see if a website is secure; 50% do not password-protect their smartphones; 55% do not close the web browser when they are finished using an online account, which is necessary to prevent some types of hacks; and 15% keep a written record of passwords and PINs in their wallet or on a mobile device or computer.
Despite these security fears, it appears there will be little effect on the volume of online activity going forward, as a full 80% of survey respondents said they would like to be more connected than they already are.
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