Companies that experience a data breach can expect to lose 20% of their sales revenue forever, according to a new study.
PCI Pal PLC, a firm out of the United Kingdom specializing in secure payment solutions, surveyed 2,200 Canadian consumers.
Of those surveyed 78% said they would stop spending money with a company that mishandled their data, and 58% indicated a willingness to stop spending for several months. About 20 % they would never buy from a company after it got hacked.
About 65% of Canadians point to retail being the least secure sector, followed closely by the travel industry at 41%. Financial and government services don’t have a great rep either – roughly 25% of people rate both as the least secure.
So what can these organizations do to regain people’s trust? More than 60% of Canadians want companies to undergo regular security audits. Nearly 50% would want them to be federally mandated by stricter regulations that protect private data.
“As data breaches become increasingly common, Canadian consumers are realizing that their personal data is at the mercy of the organizations they shop with. As a result, attitudes toward data security are changing significantly, with a majority of consumers now reporting a company’s security practices directly influence their spending habits,” said James Barham, the chief executive officer of PCI Pal.
Here is the full story from Buckley Smith at IT World Canada