Survey: Americans worry more about cybersecurity than terrorism

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More Americans want presidential candidates to make cybersecurity a priority than want them to focus on terrorism.

More Americans want presidential candidates to make cybersecurity a priority than want them to focus on terrorism, according to a bi-annual survey by a computer security firm.

Seventy four percent of American respondents told researchers they think it is "very important" that U.S. presidential candidates address cybersecurity issues, according to the Unisys Security Index. That compares to 68 percent for terrorism.
 
"The latest results of our survey show that the American people recognize the impact that cyber attacks can have on our critical infrastructure and are looking to the U.S. Government to take on a more active role in proactively defending our nation's key assets," Unisys vice president Steve Vinsik said in a statement.
 
Government officials have warned that cybersecurity could overtake physical terrorism as a top threat to the United States.
 
Overall, however, the Unisys study found that the level of concern over all types of national security risks dropped since last year.
 
The Unisys Security Index surveys more than 10,000 people in 13 countries, including 1,005 adults in the United States. In all countries except Brazil and Mexico, concern about identity theft far outweighed concern about personal safety, according to the study.