Data Breaches Affect Consumer Trust

Vercara announced the results of its second-annual Consumer Trust & Risk Report. The survey found that breaches in 2024 had less impact on consumers’ trust in brands compared to the previous year (a 6.5% decrease from 62% in 2023 to 58% in 2024). The research reveals that consumers are unaware of the impact of insider threats, and instead assume bad actors are to blame for most attacks.

Research found that more than half (58%) of consumers believe brands that get hit with a data breach are not trustworthy, and 70% would stop shopping with a brand that suffered a security incident. Generation Z is the most likely to be unfazed by security incidents, whereas Baby Boomers are most likely to shift their shopping habits.

One-third (30%) of consumers report having their data exposed after shopping online. Survey respondents believe that the top four causes of breaches are:

• Bad actors hacking into a company’s system – 36% (with 67% of Generation Z holding this belief)
• A company having extremely poor security measures – 33%
• Bad actors breaking into physical offices – 8%
• Insider threats – 5%

Additionally, 21% of consumers report that they use the same passwords across work and online shopping accounts and that 57% are comfortable using their work devices for personal shopping, doing so regularly, which opens companies to even more risk.