When personal security trumps net threats

Residents of Hong Kong reported the highest level of concern globally for financial and personal security issues among the 11 countries surveyed for the latest Unisys Security Index. In the survey that included 898 respondents from Hong Kong, the territory ranked second behind Brazil in overall level of security concerns in the Unisys survey.

The national security issue that most concerned Hong Kong citizens was health epidemics (70 percent) while only 37 percent were concerned about security in relation to war or terrorism.

In terms of financial security, four out of five respondents showed “serious concern” over bank card fraud and 59 percent were concerned about their ability to meet essential financial obligations. On personal security issues, 81 percent of Hong Kongers were seriously concerned about unauthorized access to personal information and 58 percent were concerned about their personal safety over the next six months.

Even then, Hong Kongers were less concerned about internet security matters, with only 46 percent concerned about the security of shopping or banking online and 39 percent concerned about computer security in terms of viruses and unsolicited emails.

The Top 2 security concerns for Hong Kong residents relate to identity theft with

81 percent “extremely or very concerned” about unauthorized access to or misuse of personal information. About the same number expressed the same level of concern about other people obtaining or using their credit card details.

“Paradoxically, our research found that almost half of the Hong Kong population (48 percent) is vulnerable to cyber crime and identity theft by not locking mobile devices with a password or PIN,” said Allen Koehn, VP of public sector at Unisys Asia Pacific.

“This can also represent a risk to the organizations that the phone user works for, particularly if it is a smartphone,” Koehn said. “Any gadget that houses sensitive enterprise information or has access to the internet presents a risk if the user doesn’t secure the device properly.”

The Unisys survey also found that about half of Hong Kong residents are willing to use biometric technologies to help secure access to bank records and health records.

“These findings suggest that support for biometrics varies depending on how critical people feel it is to prove their identity to access a particular service or to protect the personal information associated with that service,” Koehn said. “For example, they are more supportive of using biometrics to access a bank account or health records than to enroll in an education class or access public transport.”

Koehn said another key factor that determines acceptance of biometrics is the organization that would have access to the information.

“There is a clear divide between those organizations that people are willing to trust with their biometrics such as the Department of Health or Hospitality Authority, and those they are not such as banks,” he said.