Today, the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and CybSafe launch the annual ‘Oh, Behave! The Annual Cybersecurity Attitudes and Behaviors report’, which studies 3,000 individuals across the U.S., the UK and Canada towards cybersecurity.
Some of the key findings reveal:
- Nearly half (45%) are connected to the internet all the time
- Increased connectivity has resulted in almost a quarter (24%) suffering from identity theft
- More than 1 in 3 (36%) have lost money or data due to a phishing attack
- The study also revealed that 23% have experienced cyberbully, while 17% percent have suffered from a romance scam
Further findings revealed poor password hygiene still plagues online users with only 33% using a unique password for important online accounts, while only 16% utilise passwords of over 12 characters in length.
Furthermore, only 18% of participants have downloaded a stand-alone password manager, while 43% of respondents have not even heard of multi-factor authentication.
When it comes to phishing scams, 70% of respondents revealed they are confident in their ability to identify a malicious email, yet only 45% will confirm the authenticity of a suspicious email by reaching out to the apparent sender. This is even in spite of the massive surge in impersonation scams hitting consumers today which are costing victims an average of £1610.
The research also revealed that while cybercrime continues, individuals are not underestimating the threats that cybercrime presents.
- 57% of respondents expressed they were worried about cybercrime
- 43% felt they were likely cybercrime targets.
- 78% consider staying secure online a priority and two-thirds (66%) think it is ‘achievable.’
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