Most US Citizens Want Government Agencies to Strengthen Cyber Defense Mechanisms to Protect their Digital Data, Accenture Res...
10 April 2017 - 8:36PM
Business Wire
More than three-quarters of U.S. citizens (79 percent) are
concerned about the privacy and security of their personal digital
data, and almost two-thirds (63 percent) say they would feel more
confident if the government agencies and service providers with
which they interact had stronger data-privacy and security
policies, according to results of an Accenture (NYSE:ACN) survey of
nearly 3,500 U.S. citizens.
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The survey – in which nearly one-third (30 percent) of
respondents said they had been a victim of cybercrime – found
that three-quarters (74 percent) of citizens lack confidence
in government’s ability to keep their data private and secure, and
almost two-thirds (65 percent) lack confidence in the ability of
law-enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute
cybercrimes.
“This survey confirms that ‘cyber insecurity’ is pervasive, with
citizens feeling concerned and vulnerable,” said Lalit Ahluwalia,
who leads Accenture’s security work with state and local government
clients in North America. “All organizations must make
cybersecurity a top priority and move to deploy end-end cyber
defense solutions to combat threats to data, and to ensure citizen
confidence when engaging with government agencies.”
The research also found that two-thirds of respondents (66
percent) said they would be willing to sacrifice convenience for
increased data security. More than half (60 percent) support the
improved security measure of answering additional login questions,
and nearly half (47 percent) support the use of biometric
technologies to verify identity and secure access. Citizens also
expressed support for new security services that agencies could
adopt to enhance their data privacy and security measures.
Respondents agreed that the availability of a secure digital
identity (85 percent), the undertaking of regular security
assessments (82 percent) and new cyber defense services (85
percent) would improve their confidence in the privacy and security
of their data
The study identified cyber insecurity among citizens as being
pervasive across all organizations with which they interact.
Respondents did not perceive an increased threat related to
government-held data, with more than three-quarters (79 percent)
believing that their data is as secure or more secure with
government as with commercial organizations. When asked to identify
the highest-perceived cyber-security threats, respondents most
often cited identity theft (68 percent) and unauthorized access to
financial accounts (64 percent), and more than half (55
percent) cited concern about credit-card-information theft.
The survey found that, despite citizen concerns about cyber
threats, improved cybersecurity and data-protection measures could
improve citizens’ attitudes toward government. Almost two-thirds
(63 percent) of respondents said that increased data-security
measures would increase their satisfaction with government
agencies, and more than half said that improved data-security
measures would increase their willingness to interact with
government agencies and their confidence and trust in those
organizations (cited by 58 percent and 57 percent,
respectively).
Peter Hutchinson, public service strategy lead at Accenture
said, “While government agencies face many cybersecurity
challenges, the research found strong citizen support for
government organizations to take steps to increase data security
and protect citizen information. Government agencies that take a
comprehensive end-to-end security approach by integrating cyber
security deep into their organizations will not only secure their
data, but also win the trust and confidence of the citizens they
serve.”
Interestingly, respondents who interact with government
regularly (daily or multiple times per day) were more than twice as
likely as those who don’t to express confidence in government’s
ability to protect their data (64 percent versus 27 percent) and
significantly more confident in the ability of law enforcement to
prosecute cybercrime (67 percent versus 36 percent). In terms of
age, millennials – those between the ages of 18 and 35 – were the
most likely to express confidence in the government’s
data-protection abilities, at 35 percent, and senior citizens
(those 65 years and older) the least likely, at 16 percent.
This survey follows Accenture’s previous report “Building
Confidence: Facing the Cybersecurity Conundrum" that gauged the
effectiveness of enterprise security efforts and the adequacy of
existing investments. The results of this survey were analyzed in
collaboration with Oxford Economics to develop the Accenture
Security Index comparing the relative strength of organizations to
protect themselves from cyberattacks.
Methodology:
To gauge citizen expectations and attitudes regarding
cybersecurity and how government can better protect citizens’
personal digital data, Market Strategy Group, on behalf of
Accenture, surveyed 3,469 respondents from the United States.
The online survey, conducted in September and October 2016, had an
overall margin of error of ± 2 percent at a 95 percent level of
confidence. The majority of respondents (53 percent) were
between 36 and 65 years of age; 36 percent were between 18 and 35
years of age; and 11 percent were 65 years of age or older.
Accenture in the United States
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Accenture Security helps organizations build resilience from the
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Leveraging its global network of cybersecurity labs, deep industry
understanding across client value chains and services that span the
security lifecycle, Accenture protects organization’s valuable
assets, end-to-end. With services that include strategy and risk
management, cyber defense, digital identity, application security
and managed security, Accenture enables businesses around the world
to defend against known sophisticated threats, and the unknown.
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Accenture Health & Public ServiceJoe Doyle,
+353-87-2507583joe.x.doyle@accenture.comorAccenture Health &
Public ServiceJoseph Dickie,
+1-512-694-6422joseph.r.dickie@accenture.com
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