American Worries of ID Theft, Fraud, Hacking Growing Considerably, Finds Unisys Survey

American consumer concerns about identity theft, bank card fraud, hacking, viruses and online transactions have grown considerably in the past three years, found a Unisys survey of more than 13,000 consumers in 13 countries released Tuesday. The only issue far more concerning to Americans is national security as it relates to war or terrorism, said the survey -- which dates to 2007 and is the first conducted since 2014. Bill Searcy, Unisys vice president-global justice, law enforcement and border security, said at a news conference that the rising numbers show people "feel they have a lack of control," given terrorism and cybercrime stories in the news. ID theft, he said, is another major problem, citing the 2015 Office of Personnel Management breach (see 1507090049) and other attacks. "Those of us who really don't understand computer systems are just that much more vulnerable, so I think that's why there's some concern," he said. Frank Cilluffo, who directs George Washington University's Center for Cyber and Homeland Security, said physical and cyber threats are converging "a lot quicker" than decision-makers and communities can understand. He said the threat spectrum is "vast and diverse" along with the growing interconnected IoT devices that presents a bigger attack landscape. "If there were a clarion call right now, it's that we need to start baking security into the design of our very infrastructures," he said. National Institute of Standards and Technology fellow Ron Ross said the complexity of internet and computer systems is growing, which also is a security threat. "We have to build an infrastructure that is leaner and meaner" and trusted, he said. He said the White House's cybersecurity executive order (see 1705110058) along with NIST publications like the Cybersecurity Framework can help.