Online outfits responsible for protecting consumer ID, say consumers

The majority of people in the UK think that the protection of their online identities is down to the companies running the websites that they use.

But most of them will still provide the information that a phisher needs offline on demand. Seventy-nine per cent of people questioned in the street are willing to give away enough personal information to set up a fraudster for identity theft, according to a poll by Winmark Research commissioned by RSA Security.

And 62 per cent of people will confirm that their password is based on personal details such as date of birth or family names.

Yet 57 per cent think that responsibility for protecting their online identities and personal information is down to the 'big companies' running the websites that they use.

The poll found that, on average, people have more than 20 separate online identities for various personal and financial websites and that two-thirds of them use the same password for all of them - from emails to bank accounts.

A third of people have already shared their passwords with family and friends, so sharing them with a stranger carrying a clipboard probably isn't too much extra effort.

Tim Pickard, director at RSA Security, said: "This is a threat to business as much as it is to the consumer. This research demonstrates clearly that the public believes the responsibility for keeping their online identity safe lies firmly with the world of commerce."

He added that the business world will have to educate its customers to keep their online identities safe and will have to take additional security measures itself – or face a consumer backlash.

Outside the 'consumer is always right' area, Tony Neate of the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit takes a robust view of individual responsibility. He said in a statement: "The British economy loses millions of pounds a year as a result of identity fraud - this can only increase if people do not become more aware of their responsibilities to protect their virtual identities."