Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News
    • Small Business

    Consumers at Risk From Storing Sensitive Information Online

    By
    Nathan Eddy
    -
    October 5, 2016
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      lexisnexis and security

      A significant number of American consumers store documents containing personally identifiable information such as name, address, date of birth, phone, email address, Social Security number and other information on email, cloud and similar services.

      These were the findings of a LexisNexis Risk Solutions-sponsored survey of more than 1,000 consumers, which sought to uncover what kind of personal information people store, where they store it and how concerned they are for its safety.

      More than 40 percent of respondents admitted they store tax returns, tax records and bank statements electronically, and more than a third (35 percent) said they store their medical health records.

      In addition, 28 percent of respondents said they store student loan information and 24 percent store mortgage information electronically, according to the survey.

      Even personal identification numbers (PINs) and passwords are stored in the digital world, with more than 21 percent of respondents indicating this behavior. Eighteen percent said they store brokerage and retirement information.

      Around a third of respondents said they store records containing personally identifiable information on popular email services such as Yahoo Mail, Gmail, AOL and Microsoft Outlook.

      In addition, nearly one-quarter (23 percent) said they store similar information on cloud-based document storage services such as Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive.

      The report warned that because vulnerable—and lucrative—identity information is available in email and other electronic forms, hackers are using that information to fraudulently gain benefits from tax and health and human services programs.

      The survey also indicated consumers’ reliance on electronic storage service could reflect the fact that two-thirds of respondents didn’t know that tax- or wage-related fraud was the No. 1 type of identity theft reported last year.

      State-sponsored actors, organized criminal groups—foreign and domestic—and individual hackers increasingly are using stolen identity data to defraud consumers, the government and businesses.

      In addition, the study inquired about consumers’ opinions regarding the government’s role in protecting such information, as well as their attitude regarding online fraud in government programs.

      While approximately one-third of Americans (32 percent) think the government has been extremely or very effective in preventing hackers from using identity data to defraud government tax and benefits programs, a larger percentage (41 percent) believe the government has been only slightly effective (20 percent) or not effective at all (21 percent).

      Respondents were somewhat more confident they would at least be notified when a potential breach from their email or cloud service occurred.

      More than 66 percent said that they were very or somewhat confident they would be made aware of a potential hack.

      Avatar
      Nathan Eddy
      A graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Nathan was perviously the editor of gaming industry newsletter FierceGameBiz and has written for various consumer and tech publications including Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, CRN, and The Times of London. Currently based in Berlin, he released his first documentary film, The Absent Column, in 2013.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×