[ISN] ID theft, malware worry U.S. online shoppers

[InfoSec News]

Fowarded from: Melissa Shapiro <misdemeanor at gmail.com>

http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/11/30/HNshoppingworries_1.html

By Juan Carlos Perez
IDG News Service
November 30, 2005

More than one fifth of U.S. Internet users will take a pass on online
shopping this holiday season due to security concerns, according to a
new study released Wednesday.

The concerns most cited by respondents were identity theft, spam,
credit-card theft and spyware, according to a survey of 1,005 U.S.  
Internet users conducted by London-based market researcher Taylor
Nelson Sofres PLC.

Among the 78 percent of U.S. Internet users who will shop online
during the holidays, 69 percent will curb their purchasing activities
due to fears over possible misuse of their personal information,
according to the survey. The poll was commissioned by nonprofit
organization TRUSTe, which certifies Web sites that comply with the
group's privacy protection principles.

Specifically, security concerns will keep some shoppers away from
smaller, lesser-known online retailers, out of fear that these vendors
are more likely to misuse personal information than their larger,
better known counterparts.

The survey, conducted online between Oct. 27 and Nov. 1, has a margin
of error of 3 percentage points.

A study released last week reached similar conclusions. Commissioned
by the Business Software Alliance and conducted by Forrester Research
Inc.'s Custom Consumer Research, that study found that 25 percent of
U.S. consumers won't shop online during the upcoming holiday season
because of concerns over buying goods online.

Still, online shopping is growing this holiday season, compared with
last year's. Between Nov. 1 and Nov. 28, nontravel spending by
consumers reached US$7.93 billion, a 24 percent increase compared with
the same period last year, according to market researcher comScore
Networks Inc.

Specifically during the Thanksgiving weekend (between Thursday, Nov.  
24 and Sunday, Nov. 27) and on the following so-called "Black Monday"  
(Nov. 28), spending grew 26 percent over the same period last year,
comScore said Tuesday.