Internet users are limiting their online commercial activities under security concerns and this will slow down US business-to-consumer sales growth in coming years, IT research firm Gartner predicted on Friday.

In its new report on the effects of online attacks on consumer confidence, Gartner said the startling rise in phishing attacks, spyware intrusions, virus infections and personal data compromisings are affecting online consumers' behavior and dampening their willingness to transact online.

Gartner warned that the total value of business-to-consumer online sales could grow at a slower pace than the company previously predicted, by between 0.3 percent to 1 percent annually. Without accounting for the possible slower growth resulting from security concerns, Gartner had expected the value of business-to- consumer sales to increase 18 percent in 2005, 15 percent in 2006 and 11 percent in 2007.

Internet service providers, financial institutions, online retailers and other companies selling goods and services to consumers via the Internet must address these concerns and put safeguards in place to protect their clients, the report said.

Online consumers are increasingly frightened over the rising rates of a variety of security threats. A big one is phishing, in which scammers dress up e-mail messages to make them look like they came from a legitimate organization, such as an online store or a bank.

Between May 2004 and May 2005, phishing e-mail recipients grew 28 percent and about 1.2 million U.S. consumers suffered phishing- related losses totaling about 929 million dollars, according to the Gartner.

This type of phishing e-mail message can lure consumers to enter sensitive information such as credit card numbers, bank account numbers and passwords into a legitimate-looking Web site set up by scammers. Even if consumers don't enter data into the rogue Web sites, just landing there can trigger an automatic and transparent download of malicious software to their PCs.

Online marketplace eBay and its online payment unit PayPal are the two Web sites phishers most frequently try to spoof, and Citibank is the most popular target among banks. But as large banks wise up to the scams, phishers are starting to target smaller, regional banks, the report said.

Another security problem frightening consumers is spyware, the malicious software installed on a user's machine without knowledge or authorization. Some spyware can furtively log users' keystrokes to steal passwords and other sensitive information, and others may search hard drives for information and transmits it.

But the most serious security problem is unauthorized access to consumers' personal and financial information. Examples of this are recent incidents of lost, misplaced or unsecured data at companies such as CardSystems Solutions Inc., ChoicePoint Inc., Citibank and Wachovia Corp. that could potentially affect millions of consumers.

The consumers expect the companies to be much more effective than they are now at detecting and preventing fraud, the report said.

It also found consumers are underwhelmed by government initiatives to address online security problems, with about 66 percent of respondents in a survey saying they want laws that would let consumers opt out of having their personal data shared with third parties without their consent.

Source: Xinhua