A new study found significant concerns around data breaches among 1,200 survey participants.
The study [pdf], from cloud-based encryption company Alertsec, determined that data breaches affect 97 percent of American respondents in some way and result in negative brand perception.
Once someone is affected by a breach, the study found, the consequence is a significant loss of trust. Nearly one in three Americans responded that it would take them several months to begin trusting a company again following a breach. While nearly a quarter of those surveyed said it would only take them a month to forgive, 17 percent of men and 11 percent of women said their trust in a brand would be permanently eroded.
“This is no surprise to me,” said Ebba Blitz, CEO of Alertsec. “People's personal information is, in many ways, the key to their financial and psychological well-being.”
