Press Centre

Online shopping 'hampered by low security awareness'

Feb 02, 2008
NetBenefit

More than 80 per cent of people claim to be preoccupied with worries about safety when online shopping, the study by NetBenefit shows.

About half of those surveyed would spend up to £500 on the internet, but the report identified some crucial shortfalls in the extent of consumer security awareness.

"The industry has put standards in place to provide the online shopper with confidence, but in actual fact many shoppers simply do not know what they are supposed to be looking for," says Jonathan Robinson, chief executive officer of the company.

Some 20 per cent of those e-commerce customers surveyed did not know what the golden padlock represented, while 70 per cent do not understand what the green browser bar signifies.

Tony Neate, managing director of Get Safe Online, has this week described web security as "everybody's responsibility", calling for companies and customers to take e-commerce safety into their own hands.