84 percent of Canadians wary of interacting with organizations hit by data breach: report

A new study from KPMG reveals that 84 percent of Canadians would rethink doing business with companies that have faced a data breach.

The study also found that 90 percent of Canadians are “leery” about sharing their personal or financial information with any organization that’s had a cyberattack or data breach.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in online shopping, as 54 percent of Canadians said they are shopping online more. The survey notes that 84 percent of respondents are being “extra careful” when shopping online for fear their information will be hacked or stolen.

Further, 54 percent of respondents said they have received “a lot more” suspicious emails in the last six months.

“Over two-thirds (67 percent) of Canadians are more worried now than ever about having their data breached or hacked, and 73 percent of those 65 years old and over are especially worried about the spike in COVID-related cyberattacks,” the study notes.

KPMG notes that the predominant types of cyberattacks on Canadians during COVID-19 were phishing, which accounts for 38 percent, and spear fishing, which made up 13 percent of the cyberattacks. Data breaches and malware incidents followed, at 12 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

Although most respondents didn’t know if their organization had been targeted by phishing scams, 12 percent said their company had been targeted.

“A quarter (25 percent) of Canadians have had their login credentials stolen from a trusted site that was hacked with that number climbing to 34 per cent for those aged 18 to 34,” KPMG outlines.

Interestingly, men were slightly more likely to have their credentials stolen than women, at 28 percent vs. 22 percent, respectively. People in Ontario and British Columbia were also more likely to have their user ID, passwords and personal questions stolen.

The study also found that 38 percent of Canadians are not confident their personal information can be kept safe, with 17 percent saying they are “pretty cynical” about the ability of companies or governments to protect their data.

Sixty-one percent of respondents said they no longer trust the government to keep their personal information safe.

“The new reality in which we’re living demands that every organization take a much-harder look at their cybersecurity strategy, systems, and protocols,” said Hartaj Nijjar, KPMG’s leader of cyber security services, in a news release.

KPMG conducted this study through an online research automation platform called Methodify, which was used to survey 2,003 Canadians between September 15th to 18th, 2020.

Image credit: KPMG

Source: KPMG