Aussies find identity fraud more terrorising than terrorism

Sixty-six percent of the 1202 Australians surveyed were very or extremely concerned about unauthorised access to their personal information, a rise of four percent since the last Unisys Security Index Survey in May.

A gender breakdown found men were less concerned about identity fraud with 71 percent of women extremely or very concerned about unauthorised access or misuse of their personal data compared to 60 percent of men.

Furthermore, 61 percent of the surveyed people were very concerned about credit and or debit card fraud.

In comparison, fifty-eight percent were very or extremely concerned about national security in relation to war or terrorism; also up by 4 points since May.

The result has consistently been the case in Australia for sometime, according to Jane Evans marketing manager, public sector and security at Unisys APAC.

“The degree has even increased. The top two may change in order but they are generally the top and in NZ credit card fraud has sometimes been number one.”

When asked about viruses and unsolicited emails 43 percent were very or extremely concerned. Forty-eight percent of the respondents were blue collar Australians while 38 percent were white collar.

Moreover, 44 percent of respondents were very or extremely concerned about the security of shopping and banking online.

“We are seeing a clear upward trend with an overall increase in the Index of 28 points since the end of last year, reflecting the public prominence of key security issues including health concerns, increasing interest rates and public incidents of Identity Theft and Financial Fraud,” said Andrew Barkla vice president and general manager at Unisys Asia Pacific.

The Australian Unisys Security Index rose for the second consecutive time standing at 144 points with National Security up by 14 points to a total of 158 points, followed by Financial Security up 10 points to 147. Personal Security went up 10 points to 139 and Internet Security up six points to 133.