A report from Q5id used data collected by Pulse to examine how account fraud can be prevented. Surveying 114 leaders in the tech industry, the report found that the top user security issue facing organizations is email-based phishing attacks — 55% of tech leaders reported phishing as their top security issue, followed by account takeover (13%) and spam (11%).

Image courtesy of Q5id and Pulse 

 Account takeover presents a costly threat to organizations, according to report data. Over one-third of respondents reported that remedying an account takeover costs over $300 per compromised account. Seventy-nine percent of tech leaders say that the average support time handling an account takeover lasts over one hour.

Image courtesy of Q5id and Pulse

 

The report noted a number of online identity fraud prevention methods that tech organizations provide their users. Over 70% of all organizations reported offering usernames and passwords, single sign-on (SSO) and multi-factor authentication, respectively. Additional security measures employed by tech companies include security questions (36%), SMS push notifications (33%) and biometric authentication (26%), among others.

When it comes to the biggest challenges facing tech security leaders, a focus on user experience (UX) over security ranked as the top problem. Sixty percent of tech leaders named the prioritization of UX over security as one of their biggest challenges, and 58% listed poor user security practices as a top issue. Approximately one-third of respondents reported that a shortage of trained security personnel also presented a challenge to their organization.

Click here to read more report findings.