Survey: Online Shoppers More Confident In Web BuyingSurvey: Online Shoppers More Confident In Web Buying

A large majority of online U.S. shoppers have some level of confidence that their security software protects them on the Web, a study released Thursday showed.

More than two out of three online adults surveyed by Harris Interactive reported that security concerns did not curtail their Web shopping, and 38 percent said they spent more online this year than last, said the Business Software Alliance, the industry trade group that commissioned the study.

Some consumers, however, were fearful of shopping on the Web. Fully 30 percent said security fears had made them shop less online or not at all during the last holiday season, BSA said. One in five online adults reported being "very concerned" or "extremely concerned" about Internet security during the season.

Far more respondents, however, were confident on some level that their security software was doing its job. Fully 90 percent said they were either "extremely confident," "very confident," or "somewhat confident" of their protection from viruses. A total of 92 percent felt the same about credit-card fraud, 91 percent about identity theft and 77 percent about spyware.

"Confidence seems to be picking up because of the availability of effective software products," BSA spokeswoman Laurie Atkinson said.

Nevertheless, Atkinson warned consumers against getting overconfident.

"Consumers have to recognize that the best defense against these threats is to have a working knowledge of them, so (shoppers) can make smart decisions on the safety of a Web site before making a purchase," Atkinson said.

Despite the confidence in some areas, other security problems had consumers more worried. Fully 72 percent felt less than very or extremely confident about preventing their personal information from being sold to a third party, and 76 percent felt the same about protection against spam.

Home appeared to be the safest place to shop online, as 62 percent of the respondents felt the home computer was safer than a machine at school, a library or other public place. Among those who shopped online during the holiday season, 90 percent said they did so from home, and only 26 percent admitted shopping at work.

As to the kind of software protection used, 88 percent of respondents said they used antivirus software, and anti-spyware, a firewall and a spam blocker were each used by more than three-quarters of the respondents.

In the late December survey, Harris Interactive examined 2,152 U.S. online adults' holiday shopping patterns in relationship to their Internet security confidence.