A Global Index To Track Security Fears

Oct 30, 2007 2:33 PM

Technology consultant Unisys Corp. has begun regular polling of consumers around the world to find out what they view as the most serious threats to their security.

Unisys will use results of the three-times-a-year consumer surveys to create the Unisys Security Index, a standard to measure consumer perception of threats. The index will help Unisys with its own business, as well as offer insight to its clients in the public and private sectors, Tim Kelleher, vice president of enterprise security, told Dow Jones Newswires.

The index includes not only consumer opinions on IT security, but on national security, financial and personal security.

"We broadened our survey to include more than IT questions, so we can look at bigger-picture security trends," Kelleher says. Over time, Unisys hopes to show, for example, that companies can be more successful at marketing their products in foreign countries when they address issues that are most important to the people who live there.

For the first survey, Unisys included information from 13,000 consumers in 14 countries.

Financial security, especially to prevent bankcard fraud, is a universal worry in all countries surveyed, regardless of income levels, the study found. Individuals, governments and global businesses all face challenges when they do business in nations with high levels of concern about bankcard fraud. Citizens of Hong Kong, Brazil, Singapore and Malaysia were most worried about bankcard fraud.
Brazilians expressed the highest concern about all types of security, while the French and Italians were least worried.

Around the world, people are more concerned about a virus inflicting damage to their computers than about personal information being stolen from an online transaction for banking or shopping. Survey-takers in Brazil and Germany were most concerned about online information breeches.

The study found that the greatest concerns about personal safety, or the misuse of personal information, came from Hong Kong, Brazil, Malaysia, Germany and the United States, reports Dow Jones Newswires.

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