MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA--(Marketwired - Nov 23, 2016) - This Black Friday and Cyber Monday, more Americans will shop online than ever before, and a new survey from cybersecurity company UpGuard reveals that the majority are concerned about the potential to have their personal and financial information hacked.
UpGuard, the company behind the Cybersecurity Threat Assessment Report (CSTAR), today released the results of a survey that was taken by more than 1,200 respondents in November 2016. The results show nearly 95% of consumers are to some degree concerned about the security of their information online, and more than half would break with their favorite brands if they knew their information was at risk. Full survey results can be viewed here.
"Consumers are more aware than ever about cybersecurity risks, especially as we head into the busiest shopping season of the year," said UpGuard's co-CEO Mike Baukes. "The reality is that websites are often the easiest access points for hackers, but people unfortunately don't know how to judge the security of a website from the outset. The goal of our newly launched (and free) tool is to empower consumers to easily understand the security of each website they visit and make the safest possible choices."
As of today, anyone can now download a Google Chrome extension -- available at https://www.upguard.com/webscan -- that will scan every website they visit and automatically produce a CSTAR score, a single measure of cybersecurity risk indexed between 0-950. Higher numbers carry a green icon to indicate a more secure website, while middling and low numbers indicating greater cybersecurity risk are given corresponding orange and red icons, respectively.
UpGuard used the CSTAR technology to grade the cybersecurity of the top 25 online retailers (according to eMarketer) and found a massive range of security scores. Any score under 550 is considered in the "danger zone" of cybersecurity risk. The full table of results, ordered from best performers to the worst, is included below.
1. L Brands: 836
2. Amazon.com: 835
3. Walgreens: 814
4. Lowe's: 783
5. Wal-Mart Stores Inc: 772
6. Apple: 772
7. Overstock.com: 741
8. Wayfair: 731
9. Victoria's Secret (L Brands): 731
10. Nike: 731
11. Groupon: 689
12. Costco Wholesale: 574
13. HSN: 524
14. Gap Inc.: 522
15. Staples: 512
16. Neiman Marcus: 483
17. The Home Depot: 480
18. Target: 480
19. Kohl's: 480
20. Nordstrom: 437
21. Williams-Sonoma: 433
22. Best Buy: 428
23. Sears Holdings: 428
24. QVC: 419
25. Macy's: 386
You can read more about the Chrome Extension here and download the Chrome extension here.
About UpGuard
UpGuard is the company behind CSTAR, the world's only comprehensive and actionable cybersecurity preparedness score for enterprises. The score allows businesses to understand the risk of breaches and unplanned outages due to misconfigurations and software vulnerabilities. It also offers insurance carriers a new standard by which to effectively assess client risk and compliance profiles. Thousands of companies, including Rackspace, Ulta, Citrix, Amadeus, PGI and ADP, use UpGuard to validate infrastructure, continuously detect risks and procure cybersecurity insurance. UpGuard is headquartered in Mountain View, CA with offices in Portland, OR. To see how UpGuard works, or to get your CSTAR rating, visit www.upguard.com