90% say online privacy is threatened

Ninety percent of U.S. consumers who use a mobile device for work activities feel their online privacy is threatened, but many persist in putting their privacy and security at risk, according to a survey by ISACA.

These risks pose challenges to employers during holidays, since respondents who use work-supplied devices expect to spend on average nine hours shopping on them. Those who use their personal mobile devices for work—a practice known as BYOD—expect to spend on average 12 hours shopping from those devices.

Employees who use work personal devices reported:

• For a 50 percent discount on a $100 item, 58 percent would reveal their email address, 22 percent would reveal the name of the street they grew up on and 15 percent would reveal their mother’s maiden name.
• 33 percent would be just as inclined to use their personal device for work purposes even if they knew their online activity could be tracked by their employer.
• 15 percent used location-based mobile applications.

While more than half (53%) feel that sharing information online has become riskier, respondents still engaged in risky actions:

• 65 percent do not verify the security settings of online shopping sites
• 36 percent have clicked on a link on a social media site from their work device
• 12 percent stored work passwords on their personal device.

ISACA also conducted a survey of 4,500 of its members from 83 countries, including 1,407 U.S. respondents. Enterprises will lose $15,000 in productivity as a result of an employee shopping online during work hours, say 37 percent.

Nearly one quarter believe that the average employee will spend more than two full days shopping online during work hours using a personal computer or smartphone.