A Leger Marketing poll found 83 per cent of Canadians are concerned about the privacy of their personal data, and 55 per cent of companies say their confidential and private data is at risk of an attack.
According to the poll, 58 per cent of consumers say they would immediately terminate their relationship with a company that compromised their personal information.
"Executives must heed their customers' calls to take the necessary steps to protect their data and infrastructure from being compromised, " says George Kerns, president and CEO of Fusepoint Managed Services, one of the sponsors of the poll. "This is not a simple business issue. It's a fundamental matter of trust. "
"Smart enterprises know security and privacy are good for business, and yet many companies in Canada and around the world don't take this message to heart, " said Andy Canham, president of Sun Microsystems of Canada and also a sponsor of the survey.
More than one in 10 Canadian consumers believe they have already been a victim of identity theft, and 38 per cent of respondents say they know someone who has been a victim of identity theft.
Business leaders believe the greatest threat to their data security comes from inside their own operation. Forty-six per cent say employees who accidentally download security-compromising viruses, spyware or adware pose a greater data security risk than external agents like hackers, who were cited next at 40 per cent.
Another 14 per cent believe the greatest threat would come from disgruntled employees who gain unauthorized access to corporate information.
