Businesses and governments need to do more to persuade millennials in the US and the UK that their online data is secure, according to a new survey from Intercede.
It found that this demographic in particular – 16-35 year-olds – are sceptical about how safe their information is.
The survey reported that the majority of respondents have little or no trust in enterprises and remain dubious about the effectiveness of current security measures utilised by such businesses.
Accordingly, millennials are eager for demonstrable change, so that they can feel confident their information is protected no matter what.
The research found that most young people would like to see every business or government department they engage with “apply rigorous security to all of the personal data they provide”.
“Millennials are hungry for change,” commented Lubna Dajani, a communications technology expert and futurist.
“The generation that has grown up in a digital-first world and witnessed the rapid advancement of connected devices and information access is now facing a fallout.”
Millennials need to be persuaded that their data is safe
Ms Dajani, who is credited with coming up with the term Allternet, added that because major data breaches seem to occur “every week”, the confidence of millennials and the general public has been “shaken”.
“If business and government leaders don’t adopt better protocols now, millennials will soon rise up and demand it,” she concluded.
Not only is cybercrime more aggressive than ever, it is more commonplace. So severe is the damage potential of these types of attack, that many governments around the world have elevated its threat level.
The UK’s Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure, for example, says that cybercrime “has become a fact of life”.
“Cyberspace lies at the heart of modern society,” it states on its website. “It impacts our personal lives, our businesses and our essential services.”
