DomainTools, a leader in domain name and DNS-based cyber threat intelligence, today announced the results of a survey of 1,000 UK consumers, which revealed that 40% respondents planned to utilise the big-name discounts available on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
More concerningly, half (50%) of these respondents were happy to shop with retailers that had been breached in the past.
Cyber Monday is set to be one of the biggest shopping days of the year for UK retailers, hoping to emulate the success of Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the US, where they have become national institutions. The survey results indicate that UK shoppers are just as passionate about discounts as their American counterparts, even willing to overlook drastic security concerns at previously breached retailers.
There are, however, some positives to take away from the results; 63% of the respondents reported that they are now more likely to cross reference email domains with legitimate retailers’ URLs, a development which is likely to damage the phishing efforts of cybercriminals across the globe, who prey on a lack of attention to detail.
“The results of the survey provide us with both positive and negative outcomes,” said Corin Imai, senior security advisor at DomainTools. “While it’s undoubtedly encouraging that respondents are more likely to check email addresses for tell-tale signs of phishing, it is concerning that so many remained happy to use companies which had been breached in the past. If customer details are accessed by cybercriminals, it can leave them vulnerable to a variety of further crimes, up to and including identity theft. Consumers should be sending the message to companies that data protection matters.”
The survey was conducted with a group of 1,000 UK consumers, between November 12-13, 2018.
