(June 6 – 10:00 ET) – KPMG says Canadian companies are complacent about e-commerce security.
The firm has just released its e.fr@ud.survey 2000. The survey finds that 89% of respondents believe their e-commerce system is less of a target for fraud than other companies. “Canadian companies remain dangerously complacent when it comes to issues related to e-commerce fraud and security, despite the growing number of attacks on the Internet and on e-commerce sites around the world,” says Norman Inkster, president of KPMG Investigation and Security Inc. and former Commissioner of the RCMP.
“The reality is that all companies will one day be a target for e-fraud and should be taking precautionary measures now. The growth of e-commerce has changed the landscape of business forever, including the vulnerability of companies to fraud and security breaches.”
The study surveyed the top 1,000 companies in Canada. It found that 67% of respondents have embraced e-commerce, but only two-thirds of those companies have made physical security improvements since e-commerce was introduced, only 40% had commissioned an external IT security review, and less than half the respondents said that they had a plan in place to deal with security breaches.
Most firms now identify external sources as the greatest threats to their e-commerce systems, and do not regard internal threats to their e-commerce systems as significant. Traditional fraud usually comes from within. “Hackers often target companies out of malice, or simply to show their hacking prowess,” says Inkster. “Given that we have only experienced the tip of the iceberg, Canadian companies should be taking immediate measures to protect themselves from e-fraud and security breaches.”