It seems that every time we survey consumers, their concerns and worries around identity theft only increase, and who can blame them given the fact that each new year seems to set a record when it comes to data breaches. What is always surprising, however, is the sheer number of consumers who indicate that they don't fully understand how to proactively protect themselves. In fact, less than 20% of consumers in our recent Cyber Barometer regularly updated their credentials. The U.S. had the highest number of respondents who regularly updated their passwords, at a still worrisome 37%.

The Barometer found that 91% of Americans and 81% of Europeans surveyed indicated that they consider an attack against their personal data as "very stressful." Furthermore, 47% of respondents to the global survey indicated that they are very worried about becoming a victim of identity theft; this increases to 49% when it came to respondents with elderly parents and 54% for respondents with children. In fact, respondents now say that becoming a victim of identity theft is a bigger worry than a car accident — which should be a sign to insurers that they should take identity protection services just as seriously as they do their car insurance offerings.