Gillian Shaw
Sun
More than a third of Canadians will steer clear of cyber shopping this Christmas over fears about a lack of Internet security, according to a survey released by the Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft.
Canadians are more anxious about Internet security than their American neighbours, and with some 55 per cent of Canadian businesses in a separate survey admitting their confidential data is at risk of attack, their anxiety may be well-founded.
In the United States, only 24 per cent of people avoid online shopping over security concerns, while 40 per cent of Canadians won’t shop online for that reason.
However, the survey results indicate some Canadians are shopping online despite their concerns, with 88 per cent saying that they feel some Internet retailers have not done enough to protect their online customers.
Consumers are reacting to the security threats, with 96 per cent saying they believe it is important to protect themselves online and 68 per cent of those Canadians who are online having at least three to five security software products on their computers. Anti-virus software is the most popular at 85 per cent, followed by: firewalls, used by 67 per cent of online Canadians; e-mail filtering at 64 per cent; and anti-spyware software at 60 per cent. Only 33 per cent of Canadians report they have web-content filtering or blocking software.
Some 81 per cent of Canadians aren’t confident of their ability to protect themselves from losing personal information to an online threat. Seventy-seven per cent worry about identify theft and 74 per cent say they are not confident they can protect themselves against unsolicited email or spam.
Sheila Luskin, western regional channel manager for AirMagnet, a California-based wireless security firm, who was in Vancouver for a security forum recently, said Canadians have good reason to worry. She said businesses here lag behind their U.S. counterparts in security.
Luskin said that while American businesses face stringent standards around the security of personal data, Canada isn’t as strict.
“Part of it is that compliance here in the U.S. is driving a lot of the need for our product,” she said of her company’s wireless- intrusion detection system.
While she was demonstrating the company’s products in Vancouver, Luskin said she was approached by a B.C. retailer that had discovered a hacker was outside a store wirelessly collecting credit card information on customers inside. She said companies that experience such breaches may be prompted to strengthen their security, but she said otherwise, it is not a high priority.
“There is not the same sense of urgency in Canada,” she said. “I think Canada is more lax with security and I think that is why people are concerned.”
© The Vancouver Sun 2005
