“…66 percent of all respondents said they were unlikely to do business with an organization that suffered a data breach in which sensitive information was compromised.”

Newly published survey research is further highlighting the need for companies to protect consumer data.

Conducted by Vanson Bourne on behalf of Gemalto, the study polled 10,500 consumers on a global basis. It found that 93 percent of all respondents would blame businesses for any data breaches they suffered and would even think about taking legal action against them in the wake of a breach. Sixty-seven percent of 18-24 year-olds said they really would go ahead with legal action.

Meanwhile, 66 percent of all respondents said they were unlikely to do business with an organization that suffered a data breach in which sensitive information was compromised. And only 26 percent of respondents indicated that they think companies take the protection of consumer data very seriously.

The results echo findings from another recent survey of consumers across the US, UK, France, and Germany, conducted by Ping Identity, in which 78 percent of respondents said they would stop engaging with a brand after a data breach, and 36 percent said they would stop doing business with such a brand altogether.

While new regulations in the European Union and elsewhere are pushing companies to embrace more sophisticated security in protecting consumer data such as biometric authentication, the survey research clearly indicates that they also have a strong market incentive to do so. Hack attacks are inevitable, but organizations are in control of what defences they have in place.