Singaporeans worry about high-tech crimes

SINGAPORE--Singaporeans, it seems, are more concerned about technology related crimes than the traditional types like robbery which relate to physical security, according to a new report.

Results from the latest survey conducted by IT services vendor Unisys revealed financial fraud as the No. 1 concern among respondents from the island-state. Identity theft trailed closely in second place.

According to the September 2007 Unisys Security Index, 83 percent of respondents were extremely or very concerned about other people obtaining their credit and/or debit card details, while 80 percent were extremely or very concerned about unauthorized access to or misuse of their personal information.

These two concerns are also the top three concerns among respondents in Hong Kong and Malaysia, Ian Selbie, Unisys Asia-Pacific's practice director of Secure Business Solutions, told ZDNet Asia in an interview.

In contrast, respondents in Australia and New Zealand were instead more concerned about issues related to terrorism and personal (physical) security, Selbie noted.

"From these results, Singaporeans [for instance], are less concerned about traditional crimes than they are about these newer forms of crime like identity theft and the misuse of credit card and debit card information," Selbie said. "That maybe because these [crimes] are newer, but also maybe there's been a lot of awareness [of these crimes] created by reports in the media."

Selbie noted the tech-savvy nature of Singaporeans as another possible reason for their high level of concern for identity theft, but added that they are not concerned about IT security or their computers being hacked.