Unisys Security Index reveals security concerns on identity and data privacy

Surveying more than 13,000 citizens across 13 countries in August 2018, the 2018 Unisys Security Index gauges the attitudes of consumers on a wide range of security-related issues and pressure points across national security, financial security, internet security and personal security and applies a points-based score.

The survey found that eight in 10 UK citizens are extremely or very concerned about security threats generally. In the UK, the overall index score was measured at 149 this year on a scale of 0 to 300, where 300 represents the highest level of security concern. This score represents a five-point increase compared with 2017, the third highest increase globally.

Along similar lines, the survey found high levels of concern relating to sharing personal data with third parties and via social media. Respondents registered concern about how their personal data would be used, and the need for compelling reasons to hand it over to third parties.

Outside of the core index survey Unisys asked respondents about potential exploitations of social media and found that 65% of UK citizens were concerned about terrorists using social media to collaborate and plan attacks. In addition, 63% said they were concerned about their social media profiles being hacked and sensitive information shared.

Most UK consumers are unaware of innovations in banking but welcome improvements in online retail security
Despite coming into effect in January 2018, less than a third of respondents said they had heard of Open Banking, Overwhelmingly, 75% of respondents who had heard of Open Banking said they would want to know how their information is being protected by third parties before agreeing to Open Banking. And 20% said they were already using Open Banking services.

When it came to retail, 64% of UK citizens said they would welcome having to use a unique code for extra security when making purchases online, and saw it as a very positive move to combat online fraud. In addition, 55% of respondents said they would like all online purchases to be subject to verification.