Dart’s data: the data security issue

This week’s edition takes a look at a study that highlights how half of companies could be open to data security breaches as well as a report that shows IT bosses in the retail sector are worried about the increase in consumerisation of information technology and how it will lead to greater business risks.

• The latest Adestra/Econsultancy’s Email Marketing Industry Census 2012 report highlights that only 56 percent of client-side respondents and 47 percent of supplier-side respondents say they (or their clients) have policies and processes in place to guard against data security breaches. This is the first time the report included responses to questions on data and worryingly found that 16 percent of companies didn’t even know whether data security measures were in place.  Only a quarter of companies are using authenticated login and/or IP restrictions to prevent breaches.

The research, conducted between January and February 2012 among 846 individuals, also reveals that 44 percent of respondents either had no data security policies and processes in place, or were not aware of any, while only 2 percent of respondents ranked data security as one of the three areas they need to focus on most in 2012.

• Results from a study by technology performance firm Compuware Corporation shows that 78 percent of retail sector chief information officers worry that, as consumerisation of IT gathers pace, it will lead to greater business risks. The study of 520 CIOs shows that models such as cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), as well as trends like social media and m-commerce,  are driving unrealistic expectations around the role of IT in 74 percent of businesses across the retail sector.--JD

Is stat so?

We’ve just received the results from a survey carried out by feedback forum Feefo. Not surprising, its main findings say that consumers are less likely to trust an online company they have never heard of. It found that more than half of online shoppers are “more likely to buy from websites carrying independent product (53%) and service (51%) reviews from past customers”. Fair enough.

However, one of the findings struck me as erroneous: “Even when purchasing from legitimate websites, one in eight people (13%) has experienced problems ranging from goods being faulty or not turning up at all, to being unable to return items or get a refund.”

First, I don’t think that statistic should be used to demonise online shopping. When shopping in general, how many of us have taken something we bought on the high street back to the store because it was faulty? How many have had problems returning items in-store? Or, regardless of channel, have had a bad experience with a customer service rep?

Second, one in eight seems very low… I had to return a top recently because the seam was torn. A straw poll of my colleagues reveals a similar picture. We’ve all had to return or query an order at one point or another. And surely it depends on how frequently a consumer transacts online as to how likely he is to experience problems. I have been shopping online regularly for 10 years (first-ever purchase from Amazon, 1999), so I am much more “at risk” of encountering a problem than someone who makes one or two purchases a year.

So what is Feefo trying to say? If it’s saying that transacting online is comparatively safer or less hassle than shopping on the high street, I’ll buy into that. Otherwise, I am not quite sure how it wants me to read that…--MT