It Seems That Even Digital-Native Generations are Reckless with Their Online Security

Norton this week released findings from the annual Norton Cyber Security Insights Report, which sheds light on online crime and the effect it has on consumers.

The report found that consumers who were victims of cybercrime within the past year often continued their unsafe behavior. For example, while these consumers were more likely to use a password on every account, they were nearly twice as likely to share their password with others, negating their efforts.

“Our findings show that people are growing increasingly aware of the need to protect their personal information online, but aren’t motivated to take adequate precautions to stay safe,” said Fran Rosch, executive vice president, Norton by Symantec.

76 per cent of consumers know they must actively protect their information online, but are still sharing passwords and engaging in other risky behaviors, the report revealed. 35 per cent of people have at least one unprotected device leaving their other devices vulnerable to ransomware, malicious websites, zero days and phishing attacks.

“While consumers remain complacent, hackers are refining their skills and adapting their scams to further take advantage of people, making the need for consumers to take some action increasingly important,” Rosch said.

Within the past year, 689 million people in 21 countries were victims of cybercrime, an increase of 10 per cent across the 17 countries that were measured in 2015.

Millennials exhibit surprisingly slack online security habits, the report suggests, and are happy to share passwords that compromise their online safety (45 per cent). This is likely why they remain the most common victims of cybercrime, representing 32 per cent of those who experienced cybercrime in the past year.

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