Research Reveals Decline in Trust Across Major Communications Channels
- 19 percent of U.S. respondents have less trust in the security of mobile short message service than they did 12 months ago
- Nearly half (49 percent) do not have sufficient trust in security of mobile devices to pay for goods and services
- Almost half have less trust in security of social networks (41percent) and email (45 percent) than they did 12 months ago
SAN FRANCISCO—March 6, 2012—Connected consumers in the U.S. are reporting a growing wave of distrust across major communications channels – including mobile, fixed and social networking – due to fears of security threats such as viruses, spam and phishing attacks, according to new research released by Cloudmark, Inc., the global leader in carrier-grade messaging security.
The survey, conducted in conjunction with online research provider Toluna, analyzed the mobile, fixed-line and social networking habits, security threat exposure and sentiment of 1,000 U.S. consumers.
Trust in the Security of Mobile Communications Platforms Declining
The survey results show that 19 percent of U.S. respondents have less trust in the security of mobile short message service than they did 12 months ago. While previously considered a very trusted communications channel, overall, SMS ranked a distant third (15 percent) among the platforms survey respondents consider to be the most secure, behind voice (43 percent) and email (34 percent). The SMS platform holds a higher level of trust among younger users, with nearly one quarter (24 percent) of 18-24 year olds and 21 percent of 25-34 year olds naming it as the platform they consider the most secure. However, trust in the SMS channel appears to decline with age, with just eight percent of the 55-plus demographic citing it as the most secure platform.
This trend of declining trust was mirrored across fixed and social networking channels, where 41 percent of respondents reported less trust in the security of social networks and 18 percent said they have less trust in the security of instant messaging services. Meanwhile, 44 percent reported that they have less trust in the security of email than they did a year ago.
Threat Penetration across Devices and Messaging Platforms
Mobile social networking appears to be gaining significant traction, with 19 percent of 18-24 year olds and 13 percent of 25-34 year olds naming it as the communications platform they access most regularly. However, in spite of its popularity, trust in the social networking platform is low and seemingly continuing to decline: just three percent named it as the platform they trusted the most, the least of all platforms. In addition, social networking websites are second only to email as the platform on which consumers have experienced viruses most frequently (21 percent).
Messaging abuse remains the number one security threat across all major platforms – 61 percent of fixed line and 13 percent of mobile users claim to have suffered spam-related problems. Despite the high profile of email and desktop threats in recent years, 75 percent of Americans have experienced a security threat on their desktop or PC. Nearly half (49 percent) of these reported incidents were due to a malicious virus while almost a third (31 percent) were attributed to phishing attacks over email or instant messaging while online. Meanwhile, 18 percent of mobile users reported that they had experienced some type of security threat on their mobile device.
Security Distrust Could Hinder Mobile Commerce
While the proliferation of malicious attacks via mobile devices remains less widespread than those taking place on fixed line networks, the mobile and retail sectors could see a significant barrier to mass m-commerce adoption unless these security issues are addressed. Nearly half (49 percent) of Americans claim that they do not have enough trust in the security of their mobile device to use it to pay for goods and services. As might be expected, the level of trust in m-payments was highest among the younger age groups, with nearly three quarters (72 percent) of 18-24 year olds and 65 percent of 25-34 year olds stating that they had a sufficient level of trust in the security to pay via mobile.
To view key findings from the U.S. study, please visit: http://www.cloudmark.com/en/news/survey-results/2012-03-06-us.
Additional details about the U.S. survey findings are available via the Cloudmark Blog: http://blog.cloudmark.com/2012/03/06/research-reveals-decline-in-trust.
Cloudmark also released today a similar study of fixed, mobile and social networking security conducted in the UK: http://www.cloudmark.com/en/article/trust-declining-across-major-communications-channels-in-the-uk.
“U.S. consumers are continuing to spread their electronic activities across a growing range of communications platforms, but increasing security concerns could pose a threat to their continued adoption. The success of these consumer services depends on growing and maintaining the user’s trust,” said Jacinta Tobin, chief marketing officer of Cloudmark. “The communication channel must be kept clean of security threats such as phishing, viruses and spam. Cloudmark is committed to providing the cross-platform, carrier-grade messaging infrastructure and security solutions necessary to help service providers and operators protect users of mobile, social and fixed-line networks from these advanced threats and deliver the best possible end-user experience.”
About Cloudmark
Cloudmark protects 2 billion global subscribers daily from an explosion in messaging abuses across more operator networks than anyone else. Only Cloudmark defends the world’s largest Mobile, Fixed and Social Media Providers, including AT&T, Comcast, MySpace, NTT, Swisscom and Time Warner Cable, with scalable and accurate protection against the widest range of existing and emerging messaging threats.