About 65% of surveyed current and former attendees at the annual Black Hat USA security conference say they’re limiting their use of Facebook or not using it at all after the recent controversies over the company’s security practices, Black Hat reports.
The organization has surveyed its attendees on security matters annually since 2015, and the majority of those surveyed reported working in a computer security profession. This year’s survey generally found attendees pessimistic about the outlook for privacy and security.
Of those surveyed, 44% indicated they would keep their Facebook accounts but minimize use, 14% said they’ve never used the service over security concerns, and 7% said they planned to delete their accounts. Another 25% plan to use it regularly “with appropriate privacy settings,” while 10% said they’ve never used it due to lack of interest.
Among other findings from the survey:
- 69% of those surveyed believe “a successful cyber attack on the critical infrastructure of the U.S. will occur in the next two years,” while only 15% believe government and industry are prepared for a “major breach of U.S. critical infrastructure.”
- 52% said they believe “Russian cyber initiatives made a significant impact on the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.”
- Only 26% agree that “in the future, it will be possible for individuals to protect their online identity and privacy,” while 56% explicitly disagree.
- When asked what the “weakest link” was in enterprise IT defense, the most common answer was the users: 38% cited users violating security policies and falling for social engineering attacks.
- Just 29% said they agreed investing in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies was a good way to make money “if you know what you’re doing.”
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