Only Eight Percent of Americans are ‘Very Confident’ Their Personal Data is Safe With Retailers, Banks and Governments

by Consumers as Leading Business Consequences from Security Breach

ISLANDIA, N.Y.–(EMWNews)–Only an average of eight percent of Americans say they are very

confident in the ability of U.S. retailers, government and banks to

protect their personal information, according to a national survey

commissioned by CA, Inc., (NASDAQ: CA) and conducted by The Strategic

Counsel. The CA 2008 Security and Privacy Survey was done as in

follow-up to the 2006 survey.

Additionally, the consumer survey indicated that an average of 79

percent of American consumers cite loss of trust and confidence, damage

to reputation, and reduced customer satisfaction as consequences of

major security and privacy breaches suffered by the business or

government organizations that they deal with.

According to the survey, the nature of the threats plaguing businesses

has changed. While respondents report that the number of computer virus

attacks, network attacks and denial-of-service attacks are all down an

average of 11 percent in the 12 months preceding the 2008 survey, as

compared against the data collected in 2006, the findings also reveal

that the number of internal security breaches – those that come from

within the organization – have increased from 42 percent in 2006 to 44

percent. Even more significant is the increase from 15 percent of the

respondents reporting internal breaches in the 12 months preceding the

2003 survey to 44 percent today.

“U.S. businesses and governments recognize it

doesn’t take much to shake consumer

confidence, and they recognize the need to do all they can to assure

consumers and constituents,” said Lina

Liberti, vice president, CA Security Management. “Businesses

used to worry about the hackers and thieves launching denial of service

attacks from outside the firewall, now they recognize that their

greatest danger lurks within the organization. The good news is that

increasingly businesses are turning to identify and access management

solutions to ensure that confidential data is safeguarded and available

only to the people within the organization who genuinely need to have it.”

The survey indicated that the number of organizations planning to roll

out identity and access management solutions in the next 12 to 18 months

increased 11 percent, moving from 49 percent in 2006 to 60 percent in

2008.

Personal information at large

A number of Americans reported that they have fallen victim to theft of

their personal information, like their Social Security Number or credit

card information. Of those polled, 22 percent said they have experienced

personal information theft and nearly half (48 percent) said they know

someone who has had their personal information stolen.

Spending on data security

The CA survey also revealed that a significant majority of consumers

feel that businesses and governments do not spend enough on improving

online security and privacy:

• 72 percent think retailers do not spend enough on online security and

  privacy.

• 68 percent think the governments do not spend enough on online

  security and privacy.

• 58 percent think major financial institutions do not spend enough on

  online security and privacy.

Their suspicions are not unfounded: an average of 32 percent of U.S.

security executives believe that the investment their company makes in

security is inadequate.

About the CA 2008 Security and Privacy Survey

This survey was commissioned by CA and conducted by The Strategic

Counsel as a follow-up to the CA 2006 Security Survey.

A total of 500 telephone and on-line surveys were conducted among a

random sample of large U.S. firms/organizations. The margin of error is

plus/minus 4.5 percent, at a confidence level of 95 percent.

For the consumer portion of the study, a total of 400 telephone surveys

were conducted among a random sample of the U.S. general population aged

18-65. The margin of error is plus/minus 4.9 percent, at a confidence

level of 95 percent.

About CA

CA (NASDAQ: CA) is the world’s leading

independent IT management software company. With CA’s Enterprise IT

Management (EITM) vision and expertise, organizations can more

effectively govern, manage and secure IT to optimize business

performance and sustain competitive advantage. For more information,

visit www.ca.com.

Copyright © 2008 CA. All Rights Reserved. One

CA Plaza, Islandia, N.Y. 11749. All trademarks, trade names, service

marks and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies.

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