Group Warns Consumer Security Worries Could Slow Internet Sales

[regic]

The consulting group Gartner is warning that concerns about security are eroding Internet users' confidence, which will impact the US business-to-consumer sector by slowing growth in Internet sales. Gartner says that in the coming year the growth in the total dollar value of b-to-c online sales could slow by anywhere between 0.3 percent and 1 percent .

..In the 12 months that ended in May, an estimated 73 million adults who use the Internet said they received an average of more than 50 phishing e-mails in the past year.

...a chief scientist at the security firm RSA Security, tells me he is hearing concerns from RSA's customers about the need for stronger user authentication, or the process of validating that a user is who he or she purports to be..

complete article from Tech World

http://www.techworld.com/security/featur...ureID=1575

A related article from The Register

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/06/23/...e_decline/

The Gartner Group is revising its e-commerce predictions downwards after 42 per cent of users said they were cutting back net use because of security concerns.

...A third of concerned users are buying less online than they otherwise would. More than a quarter surveyed said they were cutting back on online banking.