“Consumer confidence in online shopping has been hurt by
recent attacks on prominent sites, a new survey suggests.”
“A third of online consumers overall said they might be less
likely to make a purchase via the World Wide Web in light of recent
news events, according to the poll, conducted by the Gallup
organization for At Plan, an online marketing consultancy.”
“Nearly seven in 10 online shoppers contacted in the telephone
poll said they were concerned or very concerned by news of attacks
that had blocked access to such Web sites as Yahoo and Amazon.”
“Although none of the most recent attacks actually involved
computer intrusion that gave the computer vandals access to
consumer records, nearly six in 10 of the shoppers contacted said
the disruptions of service raised their level of concern about
privacy on the Internet.”
“A companion poll found that 85 percent of the people surveyed
regarded online privacy as the most important Internet issue, far
ahead of the safeguarding of children (63 percent), the “digital
divide” between rich and poor (41 percent), and Internet taxation
(19 percent).”