Iris Powered by Generali has published its second annual Identity & Cybersecurity Concerns Survey, highlighting a disconnect between consumer confidence and actual protection.
Conducted in March 2026, the study surveyed 1.015 US adults and found that most Americans feel secure online but few follow recommended cybersecurity practices or have access to the tools required to protect themselves adequately.
The survey found that 84% of respondents felt secure using their internet-connected devices. However, only 29% reported following all recommended cybersecurity practices. Concern about specific threats remains high: 64% expressed deep concern about their personal devices being hacked, 63% about compromised passwords, and 57% about falling victim to scams. At the same time, among parents, 72% reported being extremely or very concerned about their children being cyberbullied, while 50% expressed similar concern about the theft of their home's title or deed.
AI-related threats are also generating anxiety, with 73% of respondents saying they are extremely or very concerned about the malicious use of AI. Despite this, only 9% reported direct experience with AI-driven scams, pointing to a gap between perceived and immediate risk.
Scam exposure, however, is widespread. More than two-thirds of Americans (69%) reported encountering some type of scam in the past 12 months, and one in four adults (26%) fell victim, 8% of whom were targeted multiple times. Phone call scams were the most frequently cited (36%), followed by phishing emails (31%), phishing text messages (29%), and social media scams (27%).
For those who experienced fraud or identity theft in the past two years, the impact was considerable. More than a third (36%) spent several days or more resolving the problem, and 12% had not yet reached a resolution at the time of the survey. Seven in ten identity theft victims (70%) reported financial losses, with 32% losing USD 500 or more, including 7% who lost USD 5.000 or more.
Access to protection tools declining
Despite growing exposure to cyber threats, access to identity and cyber protection tools has decreased year-on-year. Fewer than half of respondents reported having access to credit monitoring (44%) or a password manager (43%). Access falls further for services such as a VPN (28%), dark web monitoring (23%), fraud resolution services (17%), and scam analysis support (14%). Notably, the share of Americans reporting access to no identity protection tools rose from 18% in 2025 to 22% in 2026.
The survey also identified strong demand for integrated delivery of protection tools. Four in five respondents (80%) said they would use identity protection tools if these were embedded within apps they already use. Consumers were more than twice as likely to prefer accessing protection through integrated digital experiences (38%) than through standalone websites or apps (18%).
