Fortinet surveys reveal growing cyber threat concerns as more consumers fear data breaches, while CISOs lack confidence in their ability to stop them.

Despite their concerns, third-party studies reveal consumer behaviours may present greater challenges for organizations that don’t have the right security protections in place.

Two industry surveys commissioned by Fortinet reveals

• 71% of consumers across the U.S. are more nervous about their personal information being stolen through a data breach than they were just a year ago
• 28% of IT security professionals are confident they have done enough to prevent a security incident

Despite this shift in consumer sentiment, the research revealed consumers are not taking necessary precautions to protect their personal information. When asked what measures they are implementing to better safeguard their information online:-

• 76% of respondents said they had merely implemented stronger passwords – a step that is typically required when setting up an online account
• 20% said they aren’t doing anything at all

It is no question the cyber threat environment remains dynamic and dangerous, and is gaining in severity. According to a recent report released by the Identity Theft Resource Center (IRK), companies in the U.S. experienced a record-breaking 783 data breaches in 2014.

Already in 2015 this trend has continued with the Anthem Health security breach – the largest in history, affecting more than 80 million of its customers, as well as Sony, TV Monde and others. Many of these attacks were initiated by sophisticated hackers looking for ways to circumvent perimeter defences through compromised devices, while others originated from within the network through unsuspecting employees or partners who, without malicious intent, let cyber criminals in.

The amount of entry points cyber criminals can use to infiltrate corporate networks and steal precious information is growing rapidly, as the number of devices connected to the network increase,” said Andrew Del Matte, chief financial officer at Fortinet. “If consumers aren’t taking precautions to protect their devices and proprietary data in their personal lives, it is unlikely they are doing so at work, increasing the possibility of a breach. It is more critical now than ever before for businesses to help safeguard the consumer and customer data for which they are responsible. They must take a multi-layered approach to security to protect against both malicious and non-malicious threats, from both inside and outside of the network

On a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being “completely trust” and 5 being “don’t trust at all,” consumers were asked how much they trust various business providers and other institutions to protect their information. The survey found:

• 31% of consumers completely trust their doctors
• 18% completely trust their health insurance providers
• 27% completely trust their personal banks
• 14% completely trust their credit card companies
• 19% completely trust their employers
• 4% completely trust retailers

Are Organizations Doing Enough?

In a survey of 250 IT professionals with authority over the security decisions for their organizations,

• 57% indicated they are most concerned about protecting customer data from cyber criminals.
• 28% of those surveyed, are completely confident their organizations have done everything possible to prevent a security incident
• 26% said they were only half-confident that they have taken the necessary measures to protect their organization from potential risk

Consumers are more concerned than ever about their personal information being compromised through a data breach, with good reason,” said Derek Manky, senior security strategist at Fortinet’s FortiGuard Labs. “The evolving threat landscape puts everyone at greater risk, particularly organizations that aren’t taking the time to rethink their approach to security. An old school approach won’t do. Businesses should seek out a best-of-breed security partner with scale, third-party validated solutions and access to the most up-to-date threat intelligence, to safeguard their networks from threats, no matter the type or where it is initiated, today and in the future