According to a recent opinion survey by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the biggest online fear is of stolen personal information:

These concerns over privacy were reflected in users’ fears while surfing, with theft of personal information the most commonly cited concern by over one quarter of respondents. Another quarter feared viruses and worms. Nearly one fifth were worried about spyware, while scams and fraud ranked slightly lower (13 per cent). Only 8 per cent found spam something to be afraid of, rather than just a nuisance (Figure 1, left chart), perhaps reflecting a grudging acceptance of spam or improvements in filtering.

Promoting Global Cybersecurity ITU announces results of global survey and launches cybersecurity gateway on World Telecommunication Day 2006 ITU Press Release, Geneva, 17 May 2006

Such fears cause 64% of respondants to avoid some online activities out of fear.

And people want something done about it.

Regarding online resources to consolidate information on cybersecurity and spam, and advice as to how to stay safe online, an overwhelming 86 per cent were in favour and thought such a resource would be useful, with only 14 per cent being indifferent (Figure 2, right chart).

…

Over three-quarters of respondents felt that greater information-sharing between stakeholders (government, the private sector and the public) would be efficient in achieving improved cybersecurity (Figure 3).

Sounds like the time for reputation systems has come.

-jsq