Cybercrime is a problem the world over. While this shouldn’t surprise anybody, it may be a little startling to see how little the average person does to prevent cybercrime from striking his or her own life. Norton Cybersecurity Insights Report finds that consumers fear more for the safety of their online credit card info than for the physical card in their wallets. Norton by Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) sheds light on the reality of cybercrime and helps consumers get prepared.
Norton shows that most people fear more for financial data on the internet than that which is in their physical wallets. 47% of survey respondents said that they’d been personally affected by cybercrime in 2014. In America, 70% say that public WIFI is a bigger cause for concern than a dirty public bathroom. Similarly, most thought that cloud storage of personal finance data was more dangerous than driving without a seatbelt. Most people with children thought that bullying was more common online than in the classroom. Clearly, crimes committed through the web are something that most people know about.
“Consumer confidence was rocked in 2014 by an unprecedented number of mega breaches that exposed the identities of millions of people who were simply making routine purchases from well-known retailers,” said Fran Rosch, executive vice president, Norton by Symantec. “Our findings demonstrate the headlines rattled people’s trust in mobile and online activity, but the threat of cybercrime hasn’t led to widespread adoption of simple protection measures people should take to safeguard their devices and information online.”
Despite general awareness, America’s largest rising generation, the Millennials, still practices poor web security standards, unlike their older Boomer friends. Baby Boomers are unlikely to share passwords with friends, and they keep passwords on their computers and mobile devices. The same cannot be said for most Millennials.
Standards like these are impacting people all around the world. In 17 countries, the average person spends about 21 hours each year just cleaning up after cybersecurity attacks. These attacks cost the average individual more than $300 each year, which totals a $150 billion drain on the global financial ecosystem. Cybercrime is everybody’s problem.
Despite lots of global attention, most people still don’t change their online habits. The vast majority of people have easily hacked passwords. A secure password is one with at least 8 different letters, numbers, and figures, but the average consumer password is far simpler. Some people don’t even use passwords. Of those who do, sharing among family and friends is common. Of those sharing passwords, more than one in three share the password to their banking account. Others share email (50 percent), TV/media (45 percent) and social media (40 percent).
To learn more about cybercrime and how consumers can be safe, go here for more information.
About the Norton Cybersecurity Insights Report
The Norton Cybersecurity Insights Report is an online survey of 17,125 device users ages 18+ across 17 countries, commissioned by Norton by Symantec and produced by research firm Edelman Berland. The margin of error for the total sample is +/-0.75%. The U.S. sample reflects input from 1,008 U.S. device users ages 18+. The margin of error is +/- 3.09% for the total U.S. sample. Data was collected Aug. 25-Sept. 18, 2015 by Edelman Berland.
About Symantec
Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC) is the global leader in cybersecurity. Operating one of the world’s largest cyber intelligence networks, we see more threats, and protect more customers from the next generation of attacks. We help companies, governments and individuals secure their most important data wherever it lives.
