More than one-third of Canada’s IT professionals have had a significant data breach in 2013 that could put their clients or their organizations at risk.

"6% of the private Canadian enterprises experienced an internet security breach in 2013. About one-quarter of those reporting a breach (about 260 companies) said client or proprietary information had been corrupted, stolen or accessed without authorization."

"In Canada, there is no federal law that requires private companies to disclose breaches to the government or those affected. That may change with Bill S-4, the Digital Privacy Act, now before Parliament. The act proposes making it mandatory for federally regulated businesses, as well as federal government agencies, to report significant breaches to the federal privacy commissioner and to customers and clients whose private information was leaked."

"36% of the Canadian companies had experienced one or more cyber-attacks in 2013, which infiltrated networks or enterprise systems. 89% of the Canadian respondents said they know another security professional whose company had sensitive or confidential data stolen as a result of an inside threat, while 23% of the Canadian cyber security teams never speak with their executive team. Of those who did, nearly half did so only annually or semi-annually, while only 2% talked weekly with executives about security."

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Though cyber security and data theft are a globally spread phenomenon, public and private entities in the US are the most targeted by cyber-attacks.

"US consumers are not safe and an enormous amount of work is to be done in the US to stop data breaches."

"Point-of-Sale (POS) is one of the most vulnerable locations and a large number of fraud attacks occur at the POS."

"Payments security market in the US was estimated at USD 1,327 million for 2013. Retailers appear to be the most affected by payment frauds, starting to invest in building a secure payments system."

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The countries of Africa undergo nearly 23% of their cross-border trade.

"The level of intra-African trade is relatively low, as compared to other regions. For example, around 70% of the EU’s trade happens within its borders."

"Improved cross-border payment systems could facilitate intra-regional trade and regions across the continent are beginning to work on greater intra-continent trade. Although intra-regional trade is determined by economic fundamentals of supply and demand, the report notes that the lack of efficient regional payment systems could add significant costs to intra-regional trade."

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China's overseas online shopping market has registered a significant growth.

"The value registered by the Chinese online shoppers buying from abroad via domestic electronic payment methods jumped from USD 1.95 billion (CNY 12 billion) to more than USD 11.36 billion (CNY 70 billion) between 2010 and 2013."

"Alipay, China's largest third-party payment platform, recorded a 117% growth in its cross-border e-payment services from 2011 to 2012, whereas the average pointed to a 64.7% growth for other ecommerce companies."

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74% of UK adults have bought goods or services online in 2014 (compared to 53% in 2008) and 53% adults bank online.

"There is a risk coming from a section of society that is excluded simply because they don’t have credit or debit cards."

"81% of shoppers who have been refused credit feel there is a negative stigma attached to it. A shocking 27% of online shoppers who have been refused credit reported feeling like outcasts from society."

"33% of online shoppers being unaware that you can buy goods online without a bank account or credit card, while 53% complained about a lack of payment alternatives from online retailers."

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