UK consumers have grown increasingly wary of cybercrime, particularly online scams, since lockdown was introduced in March, according to ITProPortal. Results from a new report by Ipsos MORI show that almost a quarter of UK consumers are afraid of buying counterfeit goods online, while more than half fear account breaches and malware (58 and 57 percent, respectively). However, confidence in the government’s ability to protect its citizens from cybercrime is relatively high, with more than half of consumers trusting the public sector to handle their data.
A little bit of fear can go a long way to help protect people against cybercrime, as it is vital to remain cautious.
The government is doing a great deal to help support victims of cybercrime and fraud, however, the best protection comes from those individuals who can prevent the scam from occurring before any interaction from the authorities is required.
Many people think they are immune to cons, but everyone is a potential victim, and this is well known amongst threat actors. We must all take on preventative action ourselves by making regular backups, and do what we can to help prevent data breaches by using unique strong passwords and two-factor authentication.
A side effect of Covid-19 has been an increase in cyber attacks such as phishing and ransomware, but also in consumer caution around such attacks. A small element of caution is in fact no bad thing in keeping consumers safe and secure online. People can sometimes be too ready to click first and think later, so making considered choices is very important. But brands, whether they are retailers, media, banks or other, need to show users that their website is safe and that measures are in place to keep it so. There are so many entry points for cybercriminals and they all need to be watertight, so enterprise-grade security has never been so important for brands in instilling trust and confidence in consumers.