2020 was the year in which almost everything went online. From work to social meetups, medical appointments and banking to grocery shopping, our lives became virtual and shopping centres and business districts outside seemed to all but disappear from our day to day.

As businesses and consumers moved online en masse, security and privacy were paramount in ensuring that everyone navigated global turbulence safely. Of course, these were important before COVID-19, but the pandemic created an urgent shift to digital on a level never seen before.

Okta, a security firm that specialises in digital trust, recently partnered with YouGov to understand how this shift has changed the world. The State of Digital Trust report reflects on the thoughts of 15,000 office workers across the globe as they thought about trust in the digital economy.

Government websites are the most trustworthy of all online channels, with 41% of Australian respondents rating them ahead of websites and applications used for both work and play. A similar sentiment was felt by respondents in the UK (41%) and the Netherlands (37%). However, 14% of Australians said they don't trust any digital channels to safely handle their data.

In Australia, consumers look for service reliability, good security policies, and quick customer service response times as the top three important traits for trusting a digital brand.

Consumers are also wary about trusting some brands, especially as they buy products or services. In Australia, 54% of respondents are worried that a website may not be legitimate, followed by data breach concerns (49%) and websites that want too much information about them (44%).

Personal information remains a key concern for Australian (and global) consumers. In Australia, intentionally misusing or selling personal data is a major concern, followed by data breaches.

What's more, 77% of Australians say they would be unlikely to purchase a product or service from a company they didn't trust. This is exactly why Okta believes that brands must work hard to gain - and maintain - consumer trust.

This can be affected through the use of reliable and strong cybersecurity features, including identity management.

The business approach to trust will evolve as the digital era changes, but there is one constant - trust between businesses and consumers must always be a priority.

Okta's APAC general manager Graham Sowdon says, “As cyber scams and data breaches continue to make headlines, the Australian public is becoming increasingly wary of risks to data privacy and security. Digital brands must be responsible stewards of customer data in order to nurture trust, and drive loyalty and success. The first step towards building digital trust is establishing effective security tools and policies.

Read more in Okta's The State of Digital Trust report here.

Every business's power is in knowing its users, especially now that digital is the main way of delivering the customer experience.

On March 18, join Okta experts Drey Liautaud and Jiong Lu, who will take you through the most important factors to consider when rolling out customer and workforce identity access management.

They will be joined by CPA Australia's head of information security Nigel Hedges, as well as TED Speaker Keren Elazari, who will discuss more about identity and access, and how they fit into a wider cybersecurity framework.

Watch the session on demand here.