One in five Brits unconcerned about personal data being breached in a cyberattack

25 June 2025

• Majority of British consumers concerned about their personal data being breached, but cybersecurity industry failing to convince the final 20%
• One in four 18-24 year olds remains unconcerned about their data being stolen

A large swath of the British public is unconcerned about the impact of cyberattacks on their personal data, according to research announced today by deep tech communications agency, TFD (Think Feel Do).

The study, which polled 2000 UK consumers in April 2025 and was conducted by OnePoll, revealed that while nearly three quarters (74%) of British consumers are either fairly or very concerned about their personal data being stolen in a cyberattack, one in five (20%) identified as not very concerned or not concerned at all.

The findings are particularly concerning after a Spring that saw cyberattacks cripple retailers across the globe, including M&S, which warned its customers to “remain cautious about receiving emails, calls or texts claiming to be from M&S” after customer data was stolen.

More surprising is that nearly a quarter (24%) of 18-24 year olds reported a lack of concern about their data being breached. This is perhaps reflective of the digital native generation’s casual approach online, or the perceived inevitability of their data falling into the wrong hands.

Commenting on these results, the following cybersecurity experts said: 

Stephanie Forrest, CEO at TFD: “It's encouraging that most British consumers take cyber threats seriously. However, the 20% who remain unconcerned—over 8.5 million adults—is significant. Their lack of concern is likely to increase their vulnerability to cybercrime, which has cost the UK economy £44 billion over the past five years. To date, a lot of cybersecurity messaging and communications has focused on spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt, but it’s clear from these findings that this is failing to resonate with large portions of the population. New tactics are required to win the hearts and minds of this unconvinced group, and build a strong national culture of cybersecurity that protects consumers and businesses alike."

Manoj Bhatt, CEO at CyberHash: “These findings do not surprise me. Citizens appear to be increasingly desensitised to data breaches taking place. While these breaches are covered more and more regularly in the media, often with a focus on the threat groups responsible, missing from this coverage is the real-world impact data breaches have. Only individuals who have had their data, or the data of someone close to them, used for fraudulent purposes really take these threats seriously. It’s crucial not only for the cybersecurity industry, but industry as a whole, to present use cases and examples of where breaches have happened, and a concrete link to fraudulent activity that has subsequently taken place.”

Adam Pilton, Cyber Security Advisor at Heimdal: “It is good to see that consumers are concerned about their personal data being stolen. This concern will motivate consumers to be aware of the latest threats they face, which in turn will help to protect against these threats. The most important thing when it comes to cybersecurity is speaking in a language that everyone can understand and consume. For younger generations, the platform and medium may be particularly relevant, for example, the use of video over the written word. There is one thing that matters across all demographics: that the person, people or organisation sharing the message are trusted and liked by the person consuming it. If we want future generations to care about cybersecurity, we have to adapt the language we use, the style of our content and where we share this information so that it’s consumable and relevant to the audience’s lives.”

This survey was conducted by OnePoll between the 3rd to 8th April 2025, polling 2000 UK adults (nationally representative on the basis of age, gender, and region).

¹ Liv, M. (2025). M&S cyber attack: What we know about it and the impact it’s having. BBC News. [online] 1 May. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0el31nqnpvo.