By Tom Kirkham
Ever since shopping moved online, there has been a steady stream of reports and studies highlighting the perils of purchasing on the web - what information are you handing over, who are you handing it to, where is being stored etc? So it comes as something of a surprise to learn that more than two thirds of UK consumers now believe the benefits of allowing retail websites to store information outweigh any security concerns they might have.
Then again, it sounds like this is more a case of ignorance is bliss given that 73 percent of respondents admitted they didn't really understand the risks in the first place. The survey highlights the need for greater internet education, and clearly many of the respondents would be wise to gen up on ID theft and credit card fraud to ensure they don't 1-Click their way to bankruptcy.
However, on the other side of the coin, it's very easy to overstate the risks and instil within more paranoid minds the conviction that if you shop online you will almost certainly be robbed blind and your personal details sold on to spammers, drug peddlers and international warlords.
It should be remembered that the recent TJX hack attack which saw cybercriminals make off with information from at least 45.7 million payment cards, concerned credit cards that were swiped in-store by regular high street shoppers, not naive e-tail enthusiasts. And even if your card details aren't stolen from an internal computer system, and armed robbers don't hold up the shop while you're in the middle of paying for your goods, there's still a chance you could be mugged, beaten, stabbed, shot, run over, poisoned, drowned or subject to alien abduction as you make your way home…
OK, I may be labouring the point, but you can see what I'm getting at - shopping online is not equivalent to navigating a minefield, yet time and again that's the impression we're given.
Too many people are currently falling victim to e-tail fraud, and for all the IT security solutions in the world, the problem won't be eliminated without greater user education. But it's important that those responsible for educating are able to communicate the need for online common sense without resorting to scaremongering, otherwise people will lose all perspective about the level of danger they face.
Yes, online shopping has its risks, but as Lt. Frank Drebin of Police Squad puts it, "You take a risk getting up in the morning, crossing the street or sticking your face in a fan."
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