According to the study, nearly half of users re-use the same credentials they used for other accounts, with 82 percent using the same passwords, raising security risks for enterprises.
According to a study by IBM Security, the Covid-19 pandemic led in a surge in digital-first interactions, which is projected to continue even after the epidemic is over.
In India, those aged 35 and up experienced the greatest rise in digital interactions during the pandemic, and expect this trend to continue, with 36 percent of all respondents indicating they have no plans to delete or deactivate any of their accounts. Nearly half of respondents re-use credentials from other accounts, with 82 percent using the same passwords, raising security issues for enterprises.
Commenting on the study report, Prashant Bhatkal, Security Software Sales Leader, IBM Technology Sales, India/South Asia, said “The big takeaway from this survey is that consumers have become accustomed to the convenience of digital interactions during the pandemic, and this trend is expected to continue even after society returns to pre-pandemic norms. Companies that are more reliant on digital engagement with consumers during the pandemic must consider the effects of these changes on their security risk profile,”
Morning Consult polled 22,000 people in 22 countries, including India, for this study.
Except among GenZers, more than half of all respondents across demographics would prefer to place and pay for an order digitally rather than go to a physical location or call to place an order, even if they were concerned about the app’s safety or privacy. Although security and privacy were the top reasons for not using an app, most users chose to use it either way.
Concerns about app or website privacy (40 percent) and app or website security (38 percent) prevent about four out of ten Indian respondents from using an online platform to shop or place an order. If an app tracked activity across other apps and websites, half of Indian respondents indicated they would remove permission for it to track behaviour. When asked if they enable an application to track activities across other applications and websites, four out of ten (39 percent) replied yes.
According to the study, consumers’ inadequate security practises, along with businesses’ rapid digital transformation during the pandemic, may allow attackers with more ammo to spread cyberattacks across industries, ranging from ransomware to data theft. According to IBM Security X-Force, poor personal security habits can spread to the workplace, resulting in costly security incidents, with compromised user credentials being one of the top root sources of cyberattacks recorded in 2020.
According to the study, nearly 40 percent of Indian respondents had abandoned an online purchase, application, or transaction due to bad experiences logging in (42 percent), signing up (40 percent), or completing the payment (41 percent), and more than half expect to spend less than 5 minutes setting up a new account.