What Are Americans Worried About? The US Security Index

Technology is responsible for making our lives easier in so many ways. But according to recent data, it’s also the chief cause of many concerns of the typical American citizen. Allow me to explain.

This year’s Unisys US Security Index report is out (Source: http://www.unisyssecurityindex.com/usi/us). The report details the things that U.S. citizens are worried about in four categories: national, financial, Internet, and personal security.

Out of the “Four Things that Scare Americans Most in 2014,” three of the four items on the list are technology-based. Topping the list at 59% is Abuse of Credit Card Data. More than half the country’s citizens are worried about their credit card information being obtained by the wrong people. This is quite an increase over the 52% number of 2013. Interestingly, however, the number of those in the “extremely concerned” category decreased by six percent, while the “very concerned” category rose slightly.

In second place at 57% is Identity Theft. Americans are genuinely worried about their personal information falling into the wrong hands. Numbers were nearly identical from 2013, as the “extremely concerned” category rose 1% and those “very concerned” went up 2%.

In third place was the only one not technology based, War and/or Terrorism.

Finally, in fourth place is Online Shopping and Banking Risks. Nearly 40% (37% to be exact) of Americans are worried about the security of online shopping and banking. Despite this number, most said that even if they were the victim of a breach like this, they still would not change the way they did business online. The 37% figure was a 4% increase over 2013.

Note: The Security Index is based on a survey of 1,005 persons age 18 and up. The survey was conducted by telephone between March 14-17 of this year. Percentages were based on the entire sample of 1,005 individuals.